How Much Can a Probiotic Really Do?

Creating a herd where all the individuals are healthy and normal increases your chances of economic success.
Creating a herd where all the individuals are healthy and normal increases your chances of economic success.
(Taylor Leach)

A product that can support normal gastrointestinal functions, reduce the presence and impact of potential harmful organisms and reduce the impact of heat stress sounds like a worthy investment to most producers.

Yet Dr. Steve Lerner of Chr. Hansen, Inc. argues that those are all things that cannot be measured or proven of any product or service. During a Knowledge Nook session at World Dairy Expo, he said, “Supporting ‘normal’ is what I believe everyone wants every day. The greater percentage of normal, healthy dairy cows in any commercial herd, the greater the likelihood of economic success.”

Steve Lerner

Lerner defined normal as “generally free of observable abnormalities or deficiencies; functioning in a natural, expected way.” He went on to describe the benefits of an effective probiotic, not in terms of the “gains” to be achieved, but in terms of the “pains” to be relieved. Pains that a probiotic can alleviate that also support normal include fewer death losses and fewer digestive upsets.

According to Lerner, every KPI for a given herd follows the concept of a bell curve with a tipping point. Every bell curve has a threshold for disaster, or tipping point, where animals to the left of that threshold line will require a disproportionate amount of time and money relative to their value.

Bell Curve

“Our job as managers is to keep as many animals on the right side of that tipping point as possible. That is, to keep every animal performing normally,” Lerner said. “We believe that when a population of animals is provided every day with an effective probiotic, we see a positive shift towards success, and a notable reduction in variation.”

Under ideal conditions, Lerner illustrated that an effective probiotic would keep the whole herd away from the crucial tipping point. But factors beyond the control of the farmer including bad weather, environmental or disease challenges, flatten the bell curve, resulting in a percentage of the herd that creeps towards the threshold line. 

“If that same population is on an effective probiotic, there's nothing we can do to prevent those bad things from happening. They still present challenges to those animals, challenges that may impact their capacity to be normal and to achieve their genetic potential,” Lerner said. “But what we're hoping is that even when those bad things occur, we're still able to keep every animal safely to the right side of that threshold for disaster. This is the concept of supporting normal with effective probiotics.”

Additional important considerations to supporting normal are the less tangible alleviated pains for the owner or manager of the dairy. These can include peace of mind that you’ve done all you can to keep your cows and heifers happy and normal or significantly reducing the number of times you suffer from the rapid-onset stress of losing an early-lactation cow.

“If you have a herd where all the individuals are healthy and normal, and you’re under less stress, you’ve increased your chances of economic success, then maybe you can make ends meet a little easier,” Lerner said. “Maybe you can even manage a dairy where the hospital pen is just empty space. If you can reduce the number of problems you have, and increase the percentage of animals that are normal, then maybe you have more time to spend with grandchildren, or to fly fish or go to the game – to spend time on what matters most.”


For more on animal health, read:

 

 

Latest News

APHIS Now Thinks Wild Birds Are to Blame for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza's Arrival on Four U.S. Dairies
APHIS Now Thinks Wild Birds Are to Blame for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza's Arrival on Four U.S. Dairies

The livestock industry continues to grapple with the first confirmed cases of HPAI in cattle, while federal and state agencies continue to assure consumers there's no concern about the safety of the U.S. milk supply.

AABP Creates 'Using Credentialed Veterinary Technicians  in Bovine Practice' Guidelines
AABP Creates 'Using Credentialed Veterinary Technicians in Bovine Practice' Guidelines

Utilizing credentialed veterinary technicians (CVTs) in bovine practice can assist veterinarians in providing additional and efficient services to their large animal clients.

Get the Facts Straight on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
Get the Facts Straight on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

Now that the mystery illness impacting some dairy herds has been revealed as the same strain of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza that has been impacting the U.S. poultry flock, pork producers are asking questions.

New Guide Helps Producers Maximize Values of Cull Cows
New Guide Helps Producers Maximize Values of Cull Cows

A new resource developed by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and CattleFax helps cattle producers maximize profitability from their culling decisions.

"Boring" Technology Will Reshape Dairy Over the Next 10 Years
"Boring" Technology Will Reshape Dairy Over the Next 10 Years

Once a technology becomes a boring experience it means it has become proven, well-adopted, and easy to utilize. There are three "boring" technologies silently shaping the industry.

Meat Institute: Properly Prepared Beef is Safe to Eat; HPAI is not a Food Safety Threat
Meat Institute: Properly Prepared Beef is Safe to Eat; HPAI is not a Food Safety Threat

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and USDA food safety experts, properly prepared beef is safe to eat and is not a food safety risk to humans.