On the 21st and 22nd May, Techna organised its annual Feedia ruminant forum bringing together its French and international partners for the first time. This special format focused on two main areas: a forward-looking session dedicated to presenting Techna's short- and medium-term R&D projects in relation to current environmental issues, and a more application-oriented session designed specifically for teams in the field.
July 21, 2025
Faced with the growing complexity and variability of dairy farms, how can precision nutrition help achieve technical and economic performance and sustainability?
This was the central question that Techna answered at the annual Feedia forum held on 21st and 22nd May at Saint-Brévin in Loire Atlantique, France. Environmental footprint, Feed Formulation, Dairy heifer breeding, Decision-making tools, precision nutrition for dairy cows, etc., all aspects of the technical and economic performance of livestock farms were discussed with the 145 participants.
Context of the dairy industry and future challenges
In a favourable market context (high milk prices) but marked by increasing complexity and variability (climatic hazards, health risks, diversity of systems), there is an urgent need for a precision nutrition approach to reconcile technical and economic performance with sustainability. This involves optimising the rearing of heifers for future performance, advances in laboratory services to better characterise forages and manage risks (mycotoxins), and a new nutritional strategy for dairy cows, particularly in robotised milking. Techna offers a range of services and expertise to support the feed manufacturers in helping farmers achieve this approach.
Breeding Future Dairy Cows: focus on the 0 to 6 month period
Raising heifers is a crucial factor in the profitability of dairy farms, particularly in terms of reducing the age at first calving and increasing the production of primiparous cows. Techna presented its expertise in dairy heifer rearing, focusing on nutrition, management and profitability. A Techna survey reveals that reducing the age at first calving alone does not guarantee optimum production, highlighting wide disparities in the performance of primiparous cows. These differences can be explained in part by nutritional inconsistencies (little or no measurement of colostrum IgG, little or no analysis of forage, little or no calculation of diets, etc.) and a lack of overall strategy. To reduce the age at the first breeding, it is necessary to focus on the 0-6 month period, which is a crucial period for the growth and health of heifers (Figure 1). Good immunity transfer and rigorous feed management during this period are thus essential. IMUN'UP has been presented as a new Feedia solution to improve colostrum quality and nutrition in heifers
Forage characterisation: analysis of sugars and mycotoxins, NIR calibration of corn cob silage and assessment of the nutritional values of corn silage during fermentation
Given the increasing performance of livestock farms and the climatic hazards, precision nutrition is essential, requiring ever more detailed characterisation of forages. Techna is responding to this need by developing new forage analyses. A wide variation in sugars concentration between different types of forage has been observed in the field. A meta-analysis has been carried out and has shown that adding sugars to dairy cows diets has a positive effect on milk production, but only up to a threshold of 6% (Figure 2). Following the results of this meta-analysis, Techna wanted to predict the sugars content of forages by creating an NIR calibration. This development means that sugars can now be analysed quickly and accurately, contributing to more precise rationing for ruminants.
For corn cob silage, a specific NIR calibration has been developed to provide a complete and rapid matrix for rationing, replacing costly chemical analyses. As far as mycotoxins are concerned, the Techna laboratory has noted an increase in contamination of corn silage, particularly in DON, which is considered to be the 'sentinel' mycotoxin of multi-contamination. Techna therefore offers a range of adapted mycotoxin analyses and automatically integrates the results into WEFEED for better interpretation of the mycotoxin risk in the diet. Finally, Techna has unveiled its new corn silage analysis report, which now makes it possible to visualise changes in the nutritional values of this forage during its fermentation.
New Feeding Strategy for Dairy Cows based on the use of two Dairy feeds
Faced with the limitations of traditional supplementation systems, built on imbalances at the feed bunker, Techna is proposing a new strategy based on the use of two high-energy dairy feeds. This approach aims to balance the diet at the feed bunker and provide a targeted concentrated intake. The objectives are to secure body condition, encourage the start of lactation and cover the energy and protein requirements of primiparous/multiparous cows. Testimonials from farmers and technicians confirm the technical and economic relevance of this system. The results show an increase in milk production while promoting good animal health (body condition, locomotion) and an improvement in the margin per cow per day. Adaptable to different levels of production, this strategy makes the most of the feed manufacturer's expertise and contributes to improved profitability.
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Feedia embodies Techna's range of advice and solutions in breeding techniques and precision nutrition, serving the performance of production organisations, feed manufacturers and their breeder customers.