DAIRY - Maxammon success in Norway
9 Oct 2017
TINE SA is Norway’s largest producer, exporter and distributor of dairy products with 11,400 members and 9,000 co-operative farms.
Its aim is to provide consumers with food that provides a healthier and positive food experience. TINE is one of the oldest dairy co-operatives in Norway and is responsible for more than 90% of Norwegian milk.
TINE has been actively involved in the development of Maxammon in Norway and has helped to fund the Maxammon feeding trials in dairy cows which has been carried out at NMBU (Norwegian
University of Life Sciences).
Neil Kidd, Harbro Export Sales Director, explains “TINE monitors the performance of all its co-operative members and has seen the effects of Maxammon on cow performance first hand. The team are currently helping us review the performance of farmers using Maxammon compared with those who have not introduced the system. The initial results are really impressive, the average yield of
the Maxammon farms is 9200kg compared with an industry average of 8200kg. TINE is interested in Maxammon not only for the performance improvement but also because it allows more Norwegian grain to be fed to dairy cows along with less soya-bean meal. There are import tariffs on raw materials in Norway so making more use of home produced grain is important, also Norwegian society has a strong environmental and ecological focus. However the main thrust behind TINE’s interest is the ability to improve the performance of the dairy cow.”
Trials at the Norwegian University of Life Science showed a 3.6% improvement in total digestibility and a significant 4.3% improvement in feed conversion efficiency in dairy cows fed Maxammon grain.
Total Digestibility
| Maxammon Treated Grain | 74.3% |
| Untreated Grain | 71.7% |
| Difference | +3.6% |
Feed Utilisation Efficiency - kg milk per kg feed
| Maxammon Treated Grain | 1.45 |
| Untreated Grain | 1.39 |
| Difference | +4.3% |
Maxammon treatment improves the digestibility of the fibrous fraction of raw materials by 25 to 30%
This summer has repeated some of the digestibility work and we are currently in discussion about further trials in Norway involving NMBU.
