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...
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...
Meat is a diet staple for many Americans, yet some parts of the country tend to be more meaty than others. In a nonscientific study, cable news channel CNN created a list of the top 12 meatiest cities...
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...
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...
Little by little, cow milking is evolving from manual to automated. Not just for small herds, but for everyone. Adoption of robotic milking technology, whether as individual "box" units or as automated...
Simply guessing as to the cause is part of the problem. Death loss is a challenge to every producer. Minimizing early removals from the herd should be the goal, but it starts with an understanding of the...
"In the best-case scenario, we'll lose only 2 to 3 percent of our harvested forage tons to fermentation shrink," noted John Goeser, Rock River Laboratory, at the Penn State Dairy Nutrition Conference
A cow that's come down with milk fever is easily recognizable. Oftentimes, the cow, unable to stand, has its head against its side, and its ears are cold to the touch
Even well-educated parents with access to healthy foods struggle to meet the nutritional needs of their children. The groundwork for a healthy life is built during childhood. Unfortunately, financial limitations,...
Living and childrearing expenses continue to climb. Family living costs are up for urban and rural residents alike. In a survey of over 1,300 farm families, Illinois farmers reported that their cost of...
Limited pen space on-farm often ties our hands when we attempt to develop a grouping strategy. The options, such as separating cows based on stage of lactation, reproductive status or body condition, are...
First seek to understand, then act on the new farm bill's new dairy component. The recent Farm Bill eliminates the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) and replaces it with a Margin Protection Program (MPP-Dairy)....
Of the thousands of products on display at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis., last week, the one that most captured my attention was a few ounces of high density polypropylene plastic – in the form...
"It's a no brainer," remarked Matt Nuckols, a registered Holstein breeder from Virginia and a panelist at the genomics seminar. Extra cattle value and the ability to make more informed herd decisions are...
Americans are drinking less fluid milk, but their taste for dairy is not waning. In fact, USDA data released last month shows that per capita consumption of dairy products has climbed from 539 pounds in...
Organic dairy product consumption continues to grow, but so does the price of organic cattle feed, cutting into margins for dairy producers. Thus, a new study has revealed that a fair and consistent milk...
4-H members promote chocolate milk in winning presentation. Hand out the research, spend money on television ads and speak about healthy food choices, but there is something special about hearing the same...
Since the early 2000s, automated heat detection has played an important role in reducing breeding and associated labor costs by eliminating the need for reproductive synchronization protocols
"Do not compare proven sires PTAs to genomic PTAs. Only compare them within their contemporaries for rankings," cautioned Chad Dechow when presenting "The new world of genetics" during the monthly Hoard's...
