Canola Meal Increases Dairy Production, Study Finds

Jun 14, 2013

Canola Meal Increases Dairy Production, Study Finds

Canadian Canola Meal Feed to Chinese Dairy Cattle Increases Milk Quantity

Canadian canola received a big boost from a year-long study that found canola meal fed to dairy cattle in China significantly increases milk production.

The joint study conducted by the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) and Chinese researchers confirmed that canola meal increases daily milk production by .6 kilograms per cow. The research project was conducted at five of China’s largest dairy farms. Feeding canola meal to dairy cattle isn’t new; in fact previous studies conducted over the past 30-years have also found that milk production increased when feeding canola meal.

For years, Chinese dairies have tried to raise milk quality and quantity, without increasing feed input costs. Canadian canola may be the most cost effective solution for Chinese dairy farmers.

Canola, hailed as Canada’s top crop, is the biggest agricultural export commodity to China. Sales of canola seed, oil and meal to China is worth $3.1-billion to the Canadian economy.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.