It seems no two dairies have the exact same plan of how to manage bunks and what to do with the feed refusals. With a likely new normal for feed cost levels, it is a good time to re-evaluate how feed refusals...
Strategies for boosting milk componentspresented by Mike Hutjens, University of Illinoissponsored by: QLFRaising milk components is a way to add value to milk checks, especially for farmers that face
One of the reasons that corn or sorghum silage has become the leading forage choice for larger dairies is the consistency from day to day throughout the entire silage-feeding year
A required nutrient must be supplied to cells for the cow to maintain normal health, produce milk, and reproduce. Just because a nutrient is required, though, does not mean that a specific requirement
Dating back to my days on the family dairy farm, my favorite tool has been a multi-tool strapped to my belt. While I’ve converted and upgraded nearly all of the mechanics and woodworking tools in...
Today’s athletes have different goals than their counterparts from prior decades. Athletic goals in this era are attributable to new technologies, training techniques, advanced analytics, new strate
Despite the many advances in dairy cattle nutrition, we are still faced with some challenges. One of those challenges is to ensure adequate dry matter intake (DMI) in transition cows to optimize health
While alternative forage sources may be needed when forage or ingredient availability is limited, these scenarios also require the re-formulation of dairy cow diets
To all the avid Hoard’s Dairyman readers out there — thank you! Over the nearly 15 years since graduate school, I’ve written articles for different publications
Make the most of this year's corn silagepresented by John Goeser, Rock River LaboratoryLeaning on prior experience, as well as taking into account this year’s growing season, Goeser projects t
White House conferences on hunger and diet-related health are a rare occurrence. In fact, it’s been more than 50 years since the only one that’s ever been convened
A properly formulated ration is one of the most valuable tools a dairy farm has to ensure cows remain healthy and productive, but balanced nutrients isn’t the only important factor of a diet
High-forage diets for dairy cattle are becoming more popular due to the cost-effectiveness of homegrown forages and potential benefits on milk components
The author is a professor emeritus at University of Illinois, Urbana.Questions are arriving from around the globe, inquiring about strategies to reduce feed costs given $7 to $8 per bushel corn and so
In the past few weeks, I’ve fielded a half dozen phone calls following a number of episodes involving unexplained health issues in high-performing cows. The calls came from throughout Minnesot
There are nickels, dimes, and quarters lying around on dairy farms all over the place. Of course, I’m figuratively speaking as there are no loose coins to actually be found. Yet, I’m convinc
More and more I get questions about the proper chop length for silages and what is a desirable particle distribution for a total mixed ration (TMR) when using the Penn State Particle Separator