Siberian scientists proposed adding coniferous flour to the diet of cows. Such supplementary feeding contains a mineral-vitamin complex, which positively affects the organism and state of animals. This will increase the productivity of cows and mass fraction of milk fat, and, as a result, reduce its cost. The results are published in the IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science.

To achieve the maximum productivity in animal husbandry, it is necessary to monitor the health of livestock and ensure that the animals are fully fed in a balanced manner. Various feed additives regulating the ratio of nutrients in a body aid in solving this problem. Currently, the food of farm animals is enriched with various synthetic concentrates, but they can be very expensive or contain substances hazardous to the health of animals.

Krasnoyarsk scientists added needles flour to the diet of cows as a substitute for synthetic additives. In the feeding of needles, a high content of useful elements is noted, which improves the condition of animals and increases milk yield by more than 15%. This increase in productivity has led to a reduction in the cost of milk.

The amount of unused green wood waste in Russia, including the remains of pine needles, is more than 21 million cubic meters per year. For their rational use, scientists proposed to process wood waste into fodder additives for animal husbandry. The advantage of this method is that the needles are a renewable natural resource which can be used all year round without high costs.

Coniferous flour enriches the diet of cows with biologically active substances and microelements. It contains many minerals and vitamins, such as B, C, K, and D. Among other useful substances, carotene, fructose, glucose, and pectin can be noted. The fodder containing coniferous flour is rich in chlorophyll, xanthophyll and phytoncides - biologically active substances which regulate metabolism, protect animals from intestinal diseases and have a bactericidal effect. According to the observations of the Krasnoyarsk animal scientists, such a diet normalizes the intestines, enhances redox processes and improves the blood of an animal.

“The addition of needles to the diet of animals had a positive effect on their milk production. The milk yield of cows, whose diet included coniferous flour, was higher, and the content of the mass fraction of fat increased. Such an increase in productivity will reduce the cost of a liter of milk by more than 2 roubles, and profitability of milk production by 20%, ” says Evgeny Ivanov, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, senior research associate at the Research Institute of Animal Husbandry of the Krasnoyarsk Science Center SB RAS.