Effects of feeding diets based on transgenic soybean meal and soybean hulls to dairy cows on production measures and sensory quality of milk

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to determine whether feeding meal and hulls derived from genetically modified soybeans to dairy cows affected production measures and sensory qualities of milk. The soybeans were genetically modified (Event DAS-444Ø6-6) to be resistant to multiple herbicides. Twenty-six Holstein cows (13/treatment) were fed a diet that contained meal and hulls derived from transgenic soybeans or a diet that contained meal and hulls from a nontransgenic near-isoline variety. Soybean products comprised approximately 21% of the diet dry matter, and diets were formulated to be nearly identical in crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, energy, and minerals and vitamins. The experimental design was a replicated 2 × 2 Latin square with a 28-d feeding period. Dry matter intake (21.3 vs. 21.4 kg/d), milk yield (29.3 vs. 29.4 kg/d), milk fat (3.70 vs. 3.68%), and milk protein (3.10 vs. 3.12%) did not differ between cows fed control or transgenic soybean products, respectively. Milk fatty acid profile was virtually identical between treatments. Somatic cell count was significantly lower for cows fed transgenic soybean products, but the difference was biologically trivial. Milk was collected from all cows in period 1 on d 0 (before treatment), 14, and 28 for sensory evaluation. On samples from all days (including d 0) judges could discriminate between treatments for perceived appearance of the milk. The presence of this difference at d 0 indicated that it was likely not a treatment effect but rather an initial bias in the cow population. No treatment differences were found for preference or acceptance of the milk. Overall, feeding soybean meal and hulls derived from this genetically modified soybean had essentially no effects on production or milk acceptance when fed to dairy cows.