Professor Drackley, known for developing the ‘Goldilocks,’ approach to dry cow nutrition, said the goal is to calve cows at a body condition score (BCS) of three while avoiding overfeeding at any stage before calving. ‘You want to provide 90-110% of cows’ energy requirements consistently, and with adequate other nutrients,’ he said.

Research trials compared cows fed 80%, 100% and 150% of their energy requirements during the far-off dry period. These groups calved at BCS 2.9, 3.0, and 3.2 respectively. The overfed group displayed signs of insulin resistance and, after calving, had lower dry matter intake (DMI) and poorer energy balance than the other groups. Milk yields in the first 10 days reflected this: Cows fed at 100% produced 29.7kg/ day, compared to 26kg/day in the overfed group and 26.4 litres in the 80% group.