Effects of Long Daily Photoperiod and Bovine Somatotropin (Trobest®) on Milk Yield in Cows

Bovine somatotropin (bST) and exposure to long daily photoperiod increase milk yield of dairy cattle. We tested the hypothesis that long daily photoperiod and bST treatment would increase milk yield in an additive manner in lactating cows. At winter solstice, 40 lactating cows were started on a 140-d experiment; cows were greater than 70 d in milk (DIM) and were balanced for uniformity of DIM and milk yield within parity. Cows were randomly assigned to one of four treatments (10/treatment): 1) natural photoperiod, 2) natural photoperiod + bST (14 mg/d Trobest® i.m.), 3) long daily photoperiod (18h of light and 6h of darkness/d), or 4) long daily photoperiod + bST. Long daily photoperiod increased fat-corrected milk (FCM) yield 1.9 kg/d versus natural photoperiod. Treatment with bST increased FCM 5.7 kg/d versus natural photoperiod, and long daily photoperiod + bST increased FCM 5.8 kg/d versus long daily photoperiod. Long daily photoperiod + bST was additive, increasing FCM 7.7 kg/d versus natural photoperiod. Serum somatotropin increased with bST, but not photoperiod, and bST increased serum insulin-like growth factor-I. Long daily photoperiod tended to increase prolactin; bST had no effect. Long daily photoperiod + bST increased dry matter intake (DMI) relative to natural photoperiod and natural photoperiod + bST; long daily photoperiod increased DMI relative to natural photoperiod + bST. Photoperiod had no effect on net energy balance; however, bST decreased net energy balance. Generally, body weight and milk composition did not differ among treatments. In conclusion, combination of bST with long-daily photoperiod tended to amplify the increases in milk yield observed with either treatment individually.