Macro- and micromineral composition of milk from purebred Holsteins and four generations of three-breed rotational crossbred cows from Viking Red, Montbéliarde and Holstein sires

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of yield, composition and mineral concentration of milk (n = 120).

Trait	Mean	SD	Min	Max
Milk yield, kg/d	32.00	8.10	10.00	48.00
Milk composition:
Fat, %	4.30	1.12	2.09	7.63
Protein, %	3.95	0.36	3.22	5.08
SCS^a	2.83	1.61	−0.64	6.73
Macro-minerals, mg/kg
Na	401	114	210	907
Mg	96	13	66	126
P	960	119	618	1296
S	351	39	256	464
K	1477	206	995	2092
Ca	1224	130	912	1575
Essential micro-minerals, μg/kg
Cr	3	1	2	5
Mn	19	5	10	35
Fe	285	64	158	522
Cu	81	33	28	190
Zn	3876	775	1805	5676
Mo	52	10	33	84
Environmental micro-minerals, μg/kg
Li	5	2	2	10
B	393	68	264	565
Ba	48	11	28	84

^aSCS = 3 + log2 (SCC/100,000).

Table 2. Least squares means and standard error of the means (SEM) for mineral concentration of milk across breed combinations.

Trait	Breed^a					SEM	Contrasts (p-Value)
	HO	F1 VR×	F2 MO×	F3 HO×	F4 VR×		HO vs. cross (F1 + F2 +  F3 + F4)	VR sire (F1 + F4) vs. (F2 + F3)	MO sire F2 vs. (F1 + F3 + F4)	HO sire F3 vs. (F1 + F2 + F4)
Macro-minerals, mg/kg
Na	395	363	469	400	418	26	–	.05	<.01	–
Mg	97	97	91	98	99	3	–	.09	<.01	–
P	969	981	900	923	1015	32	–	<.01	<.01	–
S	348	366	343	344	370	10	–	<.01	.05	.07
K	1447	1532	1388	1420	1512	70	–	<.01	.01	–
Ca	1228	1283	1167	1197	1247	34	–	<.01	.02	–
Essential micro-minerals, μg/kg
Cr	3	3	3	3	3	0.3	–	–	.04	–
Mn	18	19	20	21	21	1	.02	–	–	–
Fe	280	277	272	316	300	17	–	–	.10	.04
Cu	86	64	72	86	85	7	–	–	–	–
Zn	4005	3915	3514	4030	4049	194	–	–	.01	–
Mo	53	51	47	56	54	3	–	–	<.01	.04
Environmental micro-minerals, μg/kg
Li	5	5	5	5	4	0.4	–	–	–	–
B	391	388	389	395	388	24	–	–	–	–
Ba	51	52	43	47	46	2	.04	–	.05	–

^aF1 = VR × HO; F2 = MO×(VR × HO); F3 = HO × [Mox(VR × HO)]; F4 = VR × {HO × [MO×(VR × HO)]}.