New school lunch policies improved food consumption and minimized waste in one school district; can we do even better? By Abby Bauer, Hoard's Dairyman Associate Editor When the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids...
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...
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...
The steps you take before administering an animal health product play a large role in the treatment's effectiveness. In our animal care toolbox, vaccines and antibiotics are powerful instruments. These...
Crisis management is intimidating to address but essential for long-term success. When I was 12, my family had an experience that significantly altered our operation. At 11 p.m. in the middle of wheat...
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...
Two new apps are now available to help producers evaluate calves' respiratory health. Respiratory disease can be a devastating issue for the calf caretakers on your farm. According to Terry Ollivett from...
Record-dry January kicked off what looks to be a fourth straight year. It's raining today in big parts of California. A series of storms began pounding the northern half of the state earlier this week...
A PCR assay can enhance your milk quality diagnostics. The incorporation of a robust diagnostic strategy has been promoted heavily in recent years as a way to identify the predominant pathogens causing...
If there was one job I truly despised as a kid growing up on a dairy farm, it was helping bed the calf barn, which housed our calves from 3 months of age to around 500 pounds. I just never found a way...
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...
Prevent problems before they cause early culling. Mike Hutjens presented "Feeding cows for transition success" during the January Hoard's Dairyman webinar. He shared 10 Key Performance Indicators (KPI)....
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
On NFL draft night, the team with the worst record picks first. They are, in theory, in need of the best talent. It used to surprise me that the most touted college players, like Heisman Trophy finalists,...
Your lighting decisions affect animals at all ages, not just lactating dairy cows. A recent Kentucky Cooperative Extension paper reminds us of the importance of both long-day and short-day photoperiods...
Research sheds additional light on the specific effects of mastitis on reproductive efficiencies. The dairy cow's internal balance can often be a fragile thing, and it is never more apparent than when...
