Hoard's Dairyman Webinar Archives March 12, 2012: "Save time and money in the parlor" presented by veterinarian David Reid, Rocky Ridge Dairy Consulting Brought to you by Merial and their Best in Class...
by Mike Hutjens & Earl Aalseth, DVM.?Get cows off on the right start every effort and dollar spent on transition cow well-being pays off in the following lactation. Managing far-off, close-up cows and...
For back-to-back years, U.S. milk output rose by a remarkably uniform 1.8 percent. However, unlike 2010 when higher production gains fell solely on improved milk per cow, the nation's dairy herd expanded...
Only 1,651 dairy operations hung up their milkers in 2011. That's the smallest drop, both percentage and actual, since 1992. After losing over 80,028 dairy farms since 1992, it appears the reductions in...
Historically, cows with poor dry matter intakes, negative energy balance, or poor health due to fresh cow problems caused by ketosis, milk fever, displaced abomasums, dystocia, retained placenta, or uterine...
There's a new showmanship scorecard this show season Taking into account how judges actually evaluate during showmanship, the Purebred Dairy Cattle Association has improved its showmanship scorecard. At...
Use curtain strapping in front of stalls We use 2-inch strips of curtain strapping to keep cows from going forward in the face-in free stalls at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm. This polypropylene strapping,...
As printed in our March 10, 2012 issue... MILK PRODUCTION WAS UP 3.4 percent nationwide over a year ago in January. Cow numbers rose 76,000 head (+1 percent) from last year and 13,000 from December. Nation's...
2012 hay outlook: Prices may dip a little, but they'll still be painful for buyers. Alfalfa hay market analyst Seth Hoyt always draws a big crowd for his annual forecast at the Western Alfalfa and Forage...
Editorial: It's Time For Dairy to Take The Lead on ID For too long, the dairy and beef industries have been tethered together when investigating approaches on identification. After over a decade of joint...
Despite gains in milk per cow, component levels are climbing. It's good for manufacturers and bottlers alike. Without the fat, protein, and other solids, milk has little or no economic value. Today, more...
Dry erase hutch map One of my jobs is to feed baby calves. I found this dry erase board handy to map calves in hutches. This system works very well when others need to feed calves if I am not available....
As printed in our February 25, 2012 issue... CHEESE OUTPUT ROSE 1.7 PERCENT to 10.61 billion pounds in 2011. That marks 20 straight years that production has set new records. DECEMBER'S STRONG FINISH at...
Hoard's Dairyman Webinar Archives February 13, 2012: "Preventing and treating ketosis" presented by Garrett Oetzel, University of Wisconsin-Madison Brought to you by Elanco. Return to Hoard's
Reestablishing estrous cycles after calving has been studied since the 1920s. Back then, Sir John Hammond of Cambridge made some of the first recorded observations in dairy cattle
Some good news came at year's end as Capitol Hill allowed two key ethanol subsidies to expire. That decision could have eased corn and soybean prices were it not for the 15.2-billion-gallon Renewable Fuel...
by Marina A. G. von Keyserlingk and Daniel M. Weary The authors are with the Animal Welfare Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. When calves are fed more milk, weight gains before...
There's a 50-50 chance for a farm bill in 2012 Former Washington legislative staffers told those attending IDFA's Dairy Forum that we may see a new farm bill before the fall election. If not passed before...
Improved whey coverage We started feeding whey upon the recommendation of our nutritionist. After pumping whey into our TMR mixer and not getting good coverage of the feed, we added this 6-foot horizontal...
