Latest News From Dairy Nutrition

The ultimate measure of the farm’s impact on the environment and economic success is pounds of milk produced per pound of dry matter fed to the milking cows.

Retrofitting a dairy barn has been a popular choice to make upgrades more affordable than they would be when building new, yet “retrofitting” isn’t unique to the dairy industry.

It is important to take the time to communicate with employees proper protocols while making silage, along with safe practices around silage piles or silos.

Costs associated with raising dairy replacements account for 20 to 25% of total dairy production costs.

Amino acids play a role in more than 20 biological functions, ranging from protein synthesis to stress response and behavior.

Making sure there are no amino acid deficiencies—particularly lysine and methionine--is the surest way to encourage milk protein production.

The largest error in forage analysis is improper sampling methods on the farm.

Answers to calf nutrition questions now are available at your fingertips with the NRC Calculator App.

As more farms adopt autofeeder technology to raise their preweaned calves, it’s unlikely you’ll find many managers who say they spend less time in their jobs overall.

Getting recently fresh dairy cows off to a sound, eventless start to this lactation pays dividends in improved milk production, reproductive performance, and profit.

Changes in body condition score during the transition period can dramatically affect reproductive outcomes.

We asked several dairy producers from across the county how silage season faired for their operations in 2020.

The sooner calves eat enough dry feed to sustain themselves, the better equipped they are to bridge the nutritional gap between the fixed liquid ration and a weaned diet of solely dry feeds.

Along with a slew of environmental benefits, cover crops offer up some impressive nutritional benefits as well.

The fast food giant pulled a commercial that leading U.S. scientists and beef industry leaders say contained inaccurate and misleading information about cattle's contribution of greenhouse gases to the environment.

Proper harvest timing is key when it comes to storing high quality corn silage.

Cows that must compete for resources like, feed, water, and resting space are under more stress and may suffer production losses and health issues due to that competition.

Precision nutrition means feeding cows precisely what they need. It's not as easy as it seems.

The most important number to review on a forage analysis is the ADF or NDF content of a forage on a dry matter basis, not crude protein.

What was once an agricultural practice that was “bashfully admitted” is now a mainstream contributor to our nation’s beef supply.

Candidates for extended dry periods are younger, lower risk, healthy cattle.

Dairy beef makes up approximately 20% of the fed cattle market.

The additive reduces methane emissions and potentially increased feed efficiency.

Body condition is an important consideration when deciding when a dairy animal retires into her “second career”.

The environment the cow is in during the transition period is tremendously impactful.

There are some sources of feed shrink you might not think of that can be causing substantial losses in terms of feed used, ration formulation and poor performance.

When cows are forced to compete for feed, they consume fewer, larger meals with reduced feeding time.

A successful transition period is critical and requires planning a few weeks prior to freshening and the weeks post calving.

The common industry practice of feeding first-day colostrum and then switching calves directly to whole milk or milk replacer may be under review.

What happens to calves in the last three months before they are born can influence their own lifetime outcomes, and even those of their offspring.

There is still room for improvement to reduce incidence of scours and respiratory disease.

Efficiency is a key part to profitability. Whether it be looking for ways to reduce labor or streamlining tasks to save time, dairy farmers are always on the hunt for new ways to become more efficient.

The role of veterinarians in the dairy industry is ever changing just like the industry itself.

Many farms have used some feed software for a while but they have an outdated version and hardware on its last legs, a boat anchor with a screen. 

One of the “normal” elements of this highly abnormal time is the fact that hay-making season soon will commence throughout most of the country.

Using high moisture corn rather than pellets reduced feed costs and profitability.

Immunoglobulin concentration of colostrum varies between cows.

With spring in full bloom and summer just on the horizon, now is a great time to analyze the pasture your animals may soon graze.

Dry cows should maintain a body condition score in the range of 3.0 to 3.25.

The conference is a collaborative effort of Iowa State University Extension, University of Illinois Extension, University of Minnesota Extension and University of Wisconsin-Extension.

When New York farmer Kelly Hendrickson was told she would have to start dumping milk, her milk inspector planted a seed in her mind.

While dairy farmers are looking for ways to reduce their total milk production, no farmer wants to see milk go to waste.

Here are three things to consider when feeding dry cows as cheap as possible without sacrificing cow health or her next lactation. 

The gut is the largest immune organ in the body, and it may be the new frontier for human and cattle health.

Because clay material attracts and binds positively charged ions, clay can make the rumen less acidic.

It’s a fairly simple task, but one that requires more attention to detail than you might think.

For many operations the decision to wean calves is based solely on the age of their calves.

Calcium is the most important mineral in milk, but magnesium may be the most critical mineral in the cow’s diet.

We wanted to know if this range in forage quality was impacting producers milk components. The results from our readers were surprising.

Essential oils and gut health promoters are garnering significant attention in human health and nutrition. Could these substances be beneficial to calves, too?