Is Fresh Milk Replacer Best?
Have you ever looked at the manufacture date of a bag of milk replacer and wondered how long it really stays fresh for? Unfortunately, unlike a bag of chicken nuggets, milk replacer doesn’t come with a “best if used by” date on the back, so how are you supposed to know if that two year old milk replacer is still safe and of sufficient quality to use?
Like most things, all milk replacers are different, but in general, it is safe to say that milk replacer has a one year shelf life. What does that mean? Probably not what you think it does!
When talking about milk products, when we say shelf life, you are probably thinking that means before it gets moldy, rotten, or any other form of degradation that would make it unsafe to consume. However, that’s typically not the case, unless something went wrong before you got it, or left the bag open for a very long time in inadequate conditions.
When talking about shelf life in milk replacer, it is referring strictly to quality assurance. The main concern with the shelf life of milk replacer is the loss of two things:
Vitamin and mineral potency
The loss of flavor and palatability
Neither are going to do harm to the animal consuming it, but it can cause intake issues because of poor flavor , and potentially a lack of vitamin and mineral levels in the milk diet.
Let’s expand a little bit on the previous point about mold and rancidity. This is not something that should be a problem when storing milk replacer or buying milk replacer that is a little bit older. If you open a bag of milk replacer and it STINKS you’ve got other problems than it just being a little old. Milk replacer is designed to be shelf stable and in many different conditions, considering it is often stored in a barn of some kind. If it smells bad when you open the bag, something bad was likely put into the bag when it was made.
The other important thing to note about milk replacer is that it is typically stored in a bag that has a lot of thought put into it. It is both breathable and protected at the same time. Of course, where the bag is woven with that impossible to remove on the first try string, there is room for air to come in and out, but the bag itself is double, and sometimes even triple layered (like with Denkavits bags) to protect the milk powder from excessive moisture, damage while transporting, and exposure to external conditions.
The last thing that can impact milk replacer is extremes. Extreme heat and humidity is very hard on milk replacer. Again, it’s not going to “wreck” it, but it is going to impact mixability, flavor, and subsequently palatability. When possible, always try to store your milk where it is dry and cool, which we know is very hard to accomplish in a barn!
At AVA Group Inc., we rarely have milk that is older than 6 months. While we understand that there are no real implications of older milk replacer, we still believe fresh IS best.
When we order our milk replacer, it is manufactured and delivered all within 5 days. Coming all the way from New York state to Wisconsin, that’s pretty impressive.
If you are looking to try something different but aren’t sure how you can get your hands on some of this awesome milk replacer, give us a call and we will help you get started. We just got a load of milk replacer in December too, so it’s super fresh and ready to go to your farm!