Rumen protected amino acids for dairy cattle: what is the future?

The use of rumen-protected amino acids (RPAA) will be limited to a few dietary conditions unless an increase in the cost of supplemental protein sources or legislative action to restrict and/or tax and/or regulate N excretions from dairy cows leads to the need to reduce dietary protein inputs. However, increases in costs of supplemental protein sources and/or legislative regulation of N excretion could lead to widespread use of RPAA in dairy cattle diets. Selection of RPAA products by dairy producers should be based on the effectiveness of the product at escaping the rumen intact and releasing absorbable AA in the intestine. However due to the complexity of accurately predicting metabolic requirements for specific amino acids, the level of technical support offered by the marketer of the RPAA products will be a critical factor to successful, and cost effective, use of RPAA.