KEEPING dry matter intakes at a level which will sustain dairy cows' full production potential through a long winter is a perennial challenge for North-Eastern dairy farmers.

This winter, with unusually stemmy and fibrous grass silage and maize which, while plentiful, has a large component of lower digestibility straw, the challenge is as great as ever.

Tackling the issue is crucial, particularly for higher yielding herds, but the good news is that the key management and feed quality factors which provide the solution are within the immediate grasp of all dairy farmers.

"Maximising intakes is about getting a range of different factors right," says Alltech UK's ruminant technical manager David Wilde, "and all are achievable without major investment or significant changes to the way a herd is run.

"Four main areas cover the key factors: the balance of the ration; physical presentation of the feed; its accessibility, and, last but not least, rumen function.

"If each of these areas is addressed - and good quality feed is available - there really should not be a problem with dry matter intakes and farms will have dealt with the biggest single constraint on production."

Feeding a balanced ration is standard advice everyone will have heard at some stage, but it may not always be practised.

At one level, balance means providing the right proportions of protein and energy sources as well as supplementing correctly with minerals and vitamins. However, there also needs to be balance within the energy and protein components, to ensure, for example, that both fermentable and bypass starches are in the correct proportion, and that both rumen-degradable and bypass protein are supplied adequately.

With forage being a major component of all dairy cow rations, and quality being inherently variable not just from season to season but from one cut to the next, it really is vital that analyses are carried out and the information is used in ration formulation. If not, it will be difficult to achieve the optimum balance right through the winter, and intakes will at some stage suffer as a consequence.

The first point in physical presentation of the feed is to ensure proper mixing of the ration when varying feed sources are being offered. This is to avoid "sorting" by cows which will create a nutritional imbalance, even though the overall ration is in balance.

Proper mixing is not only a factor for TMR systems but also applies to more simplified feed-out situations where, for example, two different forages are being fed in troughs or down a feed passage.

Accessibility, the third key area, is all about keeping fresh feed in front of the cows. If a TMR is put out in the morning, for example, make sure it is pushed up regularly, and not just once a day.

Think, too, about the general routine and whether this is giving cows maximum access to the feed. If cows are shut in a collecting yard for two hours, twice a day, that is four hours in every 24 when they are definitely not eating.

Above all, the modern dairy cow requires a healthy and fully functional rumen in order to convert fibrous forages and starchy concentrates into the nutrients required for milk production.

This means maintaining a healthy bacterial population and one sure way to achieve this is by feeding the live yeast culture Yea-Sacc1026.

Low and/or fluctuating rumen pH can be a function of imbalances in the ration (perhaps caused by sorting) and this will inhibit rumen function and intake.

Yea-Sacc1026 helps to stabilise rumen pH by stimulating beneficial bacterial populations that mop up lactic acid. The yeast culture also uses up oxygen present in the rumen, preventing it from inhibiting the growth and function of fibre-digesting bacteria. In this way, the yeast culture again boosts the bacterial population and creates the right rumen conditions for optimum digestion and dry matter intake.

Maintaining intakes in this way will underpin performance and help avoid common problems such as metabolic disorders, weight loss and poor fertility