March 18 recognizes the import role agriculture plays in everyone's lives. The Agriculture Council of America hosts National Agriculture Day, with the epicenter being Washington, D.C. Events promoting...
Automated calf feeding systems offer huge benefits but can also challenge management systems. Offering quicker gains, healthier calves and greater labor efficiencies, automated calf feeders have revolutionized...
For those looking to shed pounds, dodging dairy fat may be bad for your waistline. Fat is having a heyday. For decades, the standard recommendation within the nutrition community has been to avoid fat...
Additional milk per day is just the start. The signs of heat stress in dry cows are less obvious when there is no production to monitor. In the March Hoard's Dairyman webinar, Geoff Dahl, University of...
GenElite and Holstein Plaza help bring buyers and sellers together in today's evolving dairy genetics trade. I attended the 124th Wisconsin Holstein Association Convention on February 21 in Hudson, Wis
Students holding degrees in agricultural and natural resources are anticipated to earn a starting salary of $51,220, on average. The ultimate goal for most students is to graduate from college employed....
Up just 1,000 cells/mL, SCC reverted to 2012 levels this past year.After trending downward for nearly a decade, the somatic cell count average of herds enrolled in Dairy HerdInformation (DHI) testing rose...
If you have good prep and good milkers, the use of an automatic teat scrubber or more conventional prep routine should have little impact on production. Forestripping serves two purposes in the parlor:...
Watch the cows to be sure your facility provides the resting space they need. Cows are busy creatures, and one of the most important activities they do is rest. "We want to see high-producing cows lying...
The Big Fat Surprise book turns society's view of fat upside down. A new book has taken the nation by storm, and it bodes well for both the dairy industry and agriculture as a whole. The Big Fat Surprise...
Research shows that healthy and unhealthy eaters alike select foods on taste over nutritional value. An apple is healthier, but why do we reach for the doughnut instead? Most likely because we know it...
Digital dermatitis in heifers can change hoof shape without causing lameness. By Maggie, Seiler, Hoard's Dairyman Editorial Intern A good set of feet and legs is imperative for a cow to live a long and...
DHIA milk sample-based method is 91 percent accurate identifying herd prevalence. Next to mastitis, perhaps no subclinical health problem is as common, as unseen (if not outright ignored) or as costly...
In difficult economic times, we become better managers. Shrink is one area where we can tighten our belts. Dairy rations are balanced on the cents per cow that an ingredient will add to or cut from a feed...
Keep fresh cows "fresher" by identifying high risk cows early on. The high-risk fresh cow: She's older (third lactation or greater), had a difficult calving and is battling lameness. She had a longer lactation...
"I'm fine." How many times have family members commented when a loved one looks under the weather and got that response? I venture a lot if you deal with farmers. They are the "no excuses, gotta get work...
Mastitis threatens your young ladies – and your bottom line – long before they reach the milking parlor. Heifer mastitis is real, it is costly, and dairy scientists say it is more common than...
Lameness and hoof health have garnered a great deal of attention in recent years. At the Vita Plus Dairy Summit, veterinarian Gerard Cramer discussed how we can address hoof health globally. An often-mentioned...
It was drilled into my head from a very young age to watch out for calves with droopy ears, sunken eyes and clear signs of illness. Many producers use physical and behavioral signs such as these to detect...
"One of the most important events on a dairy is calving," said Mark Thomas, D.V.M., a New York veterinarian and consultant with Dairy Health and Management Services, LLC
