A Program to Improve Dairy Herd Nutrition Using Milk Urea Nitrogen

Milk urea nitrogen (MUN) has been shown to be an excellent predictor of nitrogen excreted directly into dairy cow manure. MUN can be used to identify herds that are overfed protein, and routine MUN analysis can help producers fine tune feed management and reduce the nitrogen excreted to manure. Currently, despite the promise of MUN analysis, there remain obstacles to its widespread adoption in the field. These barriers include milk laboratories’ skepticism of the value of MUN analysis and a lack of understanding of the process and its value on the part of producers. The ultimate goal of this project is to reduce nitrogen losses to air and water from dairy farms in the Chesapeake Bay region by improving dairy herd nutrition. MUN analysis will be institutionalized in milk laboratories and diary operations, and an innovative incentive program will be established to encourage producers to reduce nitrogen lost to the environment by decreasing nitrogen feeding.