Max Plus Lactation contains vitamins and other ingredients suspended in a patented oil solution. This allows a ruminant animal to absorb up to 99.5% of the nutrients.

Central to the product’s effectiveness, says Palamountain, is multi-vitamins encapsulated in a vegetable coating. This coating allows the vitamins to bypass the rumen and travel directly into the second and third stomach compartments of a ruminant, avoiding wastage and allowing for maximum absorption of nutrients.

The product was developed in cooperation with a Massey University food scientist, Brian Wilkinson. He says bypassing the digestion process in the rumen allows all essential vitamins and nutrients to go directly to an animal’s omasum and abomasum where the “real action” occurs, then on to the liver for processing.

“It is a highly effective method for animals to absorb the ingredients and our trials revealed substantial lifts in production during this part of the season,” Wilkinson says.

The coated product was sourced overseas. Its grittiness resulted in some automated feeding systems not being able to handle the solution. Molasses solved this problem, Palamountain says.

“By incorporating it into a pre-blended molasses solution, in-shed automated feeding systems can handle it. Then, almost by chance, I came across another efficient feeding method. I discovered feed wagons designed to deliver specific dosages to herds [in paddocks].”

Brian Wilkinson oversaw the trial there and confirmed the product performed well.

Palamountain says the new product, used with other VitaPower products at set times during the season, could substantially lift production. The average New Zealand dairy cow produces 333kg of milksolids each year. “Ultimately our aim is to get production up to 400 or 500kgMS/cow annually.”