Effective Microorganisms (EM): A Promising Approach to Sustainable Dairy Production: A Review

The dairy sector is vital to global food production and the economy. In dairy farming, the cost incurred for animal nutrition accounts for approximately two-thirds of total production costs and contributes significantly to the ecological footprint. Therefore, reducing production costs while maintaining optimal animal performance is essential. Thus, alternative, sustainable feeding sources should be researched. Effective microorganisms (EM) are considered a mixture of beneficial bacterial inoculants and have the potential to be used as an alternative feeding supplement to enhance the digestibility and subsequently enhance the production. Effective microorganism technology was developed in Japan in 1980 and since then, limited studies have focused on animal nutrition. For this study, a narrative review process was employed. Google Scholar’s advanced search function was employed to filter the papers, with the keywords “Effective Microorganisms” OR “EM” OR “Direct Feed Microorganisms” OR “Probiotics” AND “Dairy Cow” OR “Cow” OR “Dairy Production” AND “Cow Health” OR “Gut Health” OR “Nutrition”. Recently published, peer-reviewed articles written only in English, journal articles and leading web articles and reports were selected for the synthesis of the results. Based on synthesized knowledge, EM supplementation has significantly improved nutrient digestibility, gut health, milk production and overall performance in cows while reducing manure nutrient excretion.