The DSM OVN (Optimum Vitamin Nutrition) Auditing Service for Beta-carotene continues to be a valuable benchmarking tool to improve management decisions and profitability. Noted below, many benchmarks relate directly (health status, milk quality, ration) or indirectly (pregnancy, animal activity, milk production) to vitamin status of the animal, and are good candidates for auditing.

•   Milk production, components (butterfat, protein), quality

•   Animal activity (heat detection, rumination)

•   Rations (ingredients, nutrients)

•   Disease incidence & health status

The DSM OVN (Optimum Vitamin Nutrition) Auditing Service for Beta-carotene continues to be a valuable benchmarking tool to improve management decisions and profitability. Noted below, many benchmarks relate directly (health status, milk quality, ration) or indirectly (pregnancy, animal activity, milk production) to vitamin status of the animal, and are good candidates for auditing.

How do we perform a DSM OVN Beta-carotene audit? Our Beta-carotene iCheck helps us identify close-up cows (those between -20 and 0 days relative to calving) in low beta-carotene status on the farm. At participating dairy farms, DSM personnel take blood samples, add 0.4 ml of whole blood to the iCheck Beta-carotene extraction solution, and use the iCheck right on-farm to measure beta-carotene levels.

New On-farm Capabilities with the iCheck^® Vitamin E

DSM is excited to announce the addition of new on-farm assay capabilities! In conjunction with our Vitamin A and Beta-Carotene iCheck, we can now support on-farm measurement of vitamin E serum levels. We welcomed Prof. Dr. Florian J. Schweigert to help us debut the brand new iCheck Vitamin E. Based in Potsdam, Germany, Prof. Dr. Schweigert is the Founder and Managing Director of BioAnalyt, the innovative company responsible for DSM’s iCheck mobile lab technologies. Dr. Bill Weiss of Ohio State University established the “cutpoint” of 3 μg/ml vitamin E in the plasma at calving. When plasma levels dip below this value, cows experience more mastitis, metritis, and associated calving complications. In our experience at DSM, less than half of audited herds have achieved the desired level at calving.

DSM is looking forward to using this new tool to assist customers as we continue to develop our efficient on-farm vitamin auditing.