DCAD: It’s Not Just for Dry Cows

For more than 20 years, dairy producers have been using low DCAD diets in their dry cow feeding programs to prevent milk fever and subclinical hypocalcemia during the transition period. The use of low DCAD diets in dry cows has virtually eliminated the incidence of milk fever in most dairy herds. While dairy producers are well aware of the importance of proper DCAD concentrations in the dry period, relatively little attention has been paid to the effect of DCAD in lactating cows. We will review the principles of the strong ions in physiology and calculating and formulating for DCAD and then highlight the responses of lactating cows to DCAD.