Global warming or not, the world's climate is changing. In the United States, greater variability in precipitation patterns, more pronounced differences in weather between regions, and rising average temperatures...
Flies become a nuisance in the summer, especially for our cattle. An unmanaged fly population can reduce milk production 10 to 30 percent and decreases feed efficiency
Shades, fans, misters and water make milk production possible even in the desert. Few places in the U.S. are as deadly an environment for cows as Arizona, but milk producers there have become masters at...
With high summertime temps looming, it is time to start paying attention to Temperature Humidity Index values to manage your cows' heat stress. Just like the kids at the local swimming pool who are cooling...
Heat abatement is not just for the milking herd. Dry cows that are cooled are healthier, breed back sooner and produce more milk. Heat stress has substantial impacts on milk yield during lactation
In the decades ahead, climate change is expected to make heat stress an increasingly bigger problem for dairy cows everywhere. Breeding animals with more natural resistance is one way farmers will cope,...
Do you group cows by production? If so, then you're a big step ahead in understanding why heat stress is worse than you may realize. THI (temperature humidity index; the "feels like" combination of temperature...
Record milk prices give milk producers a financial opportunity that is simply too good to ignore – dry pen and hospital pen cooling. They're no-brainer investments whose benefits touch every area...
Cooling cows is a simple-sounding idea that is hard to do well. The cost and attention to detail it requires can be great, but its financial rewards are even greater. An intriguing new approach –...
Usually out of sight in the back of the dairy, replacements are also often out of mind when it comes to providing cooling relief during hot weather. But research has repeatedly shown that younger animals...
It's hard to watch milk production drop during extended periods of high temperature. As you try to stay hydrated and cool while working outside during hot and humid temperatures, you must work even harder...
Reproductive failure is the number one reason for involuntary culling. The economic importance of getting cows pregnant in a timely manner is, thus, no surprise. Fertility decline is a combination of many...
If you can't do everything at once, here's where to start. Dairy cows like cool weather; they do not do like heat or humidity. Some management experts have even described them as "little heaters inside...
Those of us in the Plains may want an extra application of sunscreen this week. The National Weather Service is predicting spots from Oklahoma through South Dakota to match temperatures in Death Valley,...
When summer arrives, we know how warm and uncomfortable we can become. We look forward to the shade of a big oak tree, a chance to have lunch in an air-conditioned home, or the feel of the breeze on our...
Heat hits cows sooner than we thought by R. B. Zimbleman and R. J. Collier The authors are with the Department of Animal Science at the University of Arizona, Tucson. They are affected at a THI of 68....
Now when temperatures heat up in California, so will the responsibility of dairy and other farm owners to provide heat safety protection for their employees. On August 20, the State Occupational Safety...