Do we really have the opportunity to improve first-lactation milk yield with the decisions we make when the calf is still consuming milk or milk replacer?

In today’s world, milk production efficiency is the name of the game. Feed efficiency is often calculated as the pounds of 3.5 percent fat-corrected milk (FCM) produced per pound of dry matter consu

Proper grouping of cows can improve cow health, boost production, and raise income over feed costs. However, grouping cows is not free. Adequate facilities, time to make grouping decisions and manage

Research has shown us that a calf’s diet today can influence its milking potential two years down the road

Mention milk fever or mastitis and most producers will conjure up mental pictures of these diseases

With all the exciting advances in forage and field crops, including reduced-lignin alfalfa, drought-resistant corn hybrids, and shredlage, agricultural lime seems like a boring topic

Many dairy producers are under the false impression that all that is needed to prevent BVD (bovine viral diarrhea) from entering their herd is to vaccinate with a proven BVD vaccine

A lot of intramammary infections occur during the dry period even if we don’t see them as clinical mastitis. That situation quickly changes after calving when clinical mastitis reaches its pinn

Choosing the right machinery for harvesting alfalfa can have a large impact on forage yield. While we certainly need to drive over the field to harvest it, we can minimize the effect traffic has

Often we fail to take time to sit back and contemplate progress . . . to compare where we are with where we were

Ridpath recently retired from the ruminant diseases and immunology research unit, NADC/ARS/USDA, Ames, Iowa. Miller is a senior professional services veterinarian-dairy, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica

Quality milk must be a total team effort. That means that dairy farm owners and managers must allow employees to openly share observations and thoughts to improve the milking process

It should make a big difference to you to know why a cow died on your farm. Why? A dead cow represents a dead loss. More importantly, cows don’t die without a reason

At the national dairy science meetings in Salt Lake City, Utah, in July, several abstracts featured new data on feed additives. By definition, a feed additive is a ration ingredient that does not provide...

The 2016 National Dairy Quality Award Platinum winners represent an exemplary group of dairy producers. Not only do these herds produce some of the nation’s highest quality milk on a daily basis

What a fall many of us had! We approached fall harvest with wetter-than-normal fields and were prepared for that. We were not prepared for the heavy rains that occurred during harvest

Wiersma is the alfalfa business manager with DuPont Pioneer. Thomas is retired from the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute and president of Oak Point Agronomics Ltd. Nit

A dairy feeder calf is a young (1 to 14 days of age), often male, calf that leaves the dairy farm to enter the red meat industry

The authors are veterinarians with the Quality Milk Production Services, Ithaca, N.Y.Milking in a tie stall or stanchion barn is a dance. It takes a certain sense and finesse

A record 128 herds were nominated from 18 U.S. states and Canadian provinces for this year’s ninth annual Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council awards competition