Starting in August 2021, dairy producers will have at their disposal an enhanced Lifetime Net Merit (NM$) index, the selection tool designed to maximize cows’ lifetime profitability

For heifer feed troughs, we use half of a ditch culvert. We make metal brackets for them and use wooden half circles to close up the ends

On Tony Brubaker’s Pennsylvania dairy farm, they began dry matter intake tracking 15 years ago

Livestock feed prices are on the rise, and there’s no clear sign when that trend will reverse. These escalating costs may have dairy farmers reconsidering their current rations

As the holidays approached, you likely heard the phrase, “It’s that time of year” relating to the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s celebrations

Feeding for greater protein and fat levels to take advantage of high milk component prices has been a hot topic this year

Milkfat often gets the attention when talking about milk components, but a recent surge in the price of milk protein has given producers cause to look more closely at optimizing milk protein production

A question you will often hear when discussing cattle nutrition is what level of production do you balance for? This question sets the stage for energy, fiber, and ingredient inclusion in the diet

Some farms adjust their feeding schedule in the summer and deliver feed at night, thinking that cows will eat more when it is cooler outside

For years, feed costs have carried extra scrutiny as farms look to minimize their impact on the operation’s bottom line

Every inch counts when it comes to the feedbunk, and eating space is one of veterinarian Gary Oetzel’s top feeding management concerns for prefresh dairy cows

A properly implemented approach to using dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) balancing in prefresh diets has been shown to reduce milk fever and limit postcalving metabolic problems with greater lactation...

In light of recent events, the dairy industry has found itself needing to get creative with uses for surplus milk, such as spreading it on fields or feeding it back to cows in a total mixed ration (TMR)

In dairy’s labor availability crisis, many farms have focused on doing a great job of training whether they are hiring someone with limited or extensive experience

It is important to push up feed multiple times a day. We built this feed pusher that just slides on to the corner of the feed bucket so that we do not have to change the skid steer bucket every time

The 2019 forage growing and harvest season continues to be a hot topic as we near the end of the first quarter of 2020. In recent talks, we’ve discussed how 2019 may represent a new environmental...

One of the most challenging roles of the feeding team is to track and account for feed as it goes through the feeding center and into the bunk. In order to do this, it’s important to test, track,...

“With 60 to 65 percent of the milk check going towards feeding/feed costs, this has a huge impact on farm profitability,” explained Leatherbrook Holsteins’ Adam Graft

Characterizing the potential rumen degradation properties of starch in corn silage and corn grain has been a challenge for those involved in dairy nutrition

Dairy farmers may have found the best of both worlds — with a practice that’s already relatively common