Animal health
If cows come into the dry period overconditioned, which is likely if they took longer to get pregnant, they’re already preconditioned to breeding delays in their next lactation.
Inflammation creates additional stress at calving.
Focused management, proper nutrition and diligent monitoring can help reduce metabolic disorders.
Castration is an essential management procedure for the cow-calf producer that is often performed for both handling and economic reasons.
“Similar to Staph aureus and mycoplasma, Prototheca [mastitis] is hard to detect, has no known cure, and is contagious by intermittently shedding from cow to cow.”
USDA reporting increasing numbers of crossbred dairy cattle.
Neil Michael, director of technical services for ABS Global, says many herds consistently achieve pregnancy rates of 20% to 25%, with many commercial dairies already exceeding 35% to 40%. He lists eight influencers of reproductive success that every dairy should monitor.
“Genomics is a big step forward, but we still need daughter information,” says says Kent Weigel, University of Wisconsin dairy geneticist. “We’re not yet at the stage where we can identify the next sires of sons without using conventional genetics tools.”
It’s almost accepted as gospel that a high somatic cell count (SCC) cow in a small herd can throw off the entire bulk tank even if the rest of the herd is doing well. When it comes to large herds, the conventional wisdom is that a few high-count cows can get diluted by their herdmates.
A comfortable cow is a happy, productive cow.
The challenge is to utilize wet corn correctly in your dairy rations
Clear expectations, firsthand knowledge breed success
Mark Wustenberg suggests simple places to check for a dairy’s source of bacteria problems in milk counts.
Since Elanco acquired Posilac from Monsanto in 2008, it has made re-education about the dairy production technology a priority. The Indiana-based company has reached out to the entire dairy food chain to promote Posilac’s safety and its role in affordability and sustainability, says Dennis Erpelding, director of corporate affairs for Elanco’s international business division.
Metritis, a common reproductive disease, occurs in 10% to 30% of dairy herds. Typically diagnosed during the first 10 days in milk, metritis is associated with other transition and fresh cow challenges.
Dutch veterinarian Joep Driessen gives producers a pretty straightforward formula for correcting common cow management bottlenecks: •Look at cows closely to detect problems. •Think about what’s causing those problems. •Act to correct them.
Tail docking of dairy cows was already an uncommon and diminishing practice in California when a state legislator introduced a bill in February 2009 to ban the practice.
Come August, dairy producers and calf raisers will no longer be able to buy milk replacers with Neomycin-Terramycin in the tried-and-true 2:1 ratio formulation.
Three years ago, Tillamook Cooperative Creamery switched to using the Foss Bactoscan for determining bacterial counts of milk samples. We also decided to test every load of milk received rather than testing weekly.
From June 2005 through November 2009, Osterkamp Dairy achieved a milk quality bonus for 52 out of 53 months—a 98% success rate. Those results, says owner Mark Osterkamp, don’t happen without teamwork. In fact, getting milkers to buy in to the team concept is key to making everything work, he says.
In late 2010 or early 2011, any dairy processor exporting to the European Union will need to certify that each farm that supplies milk for those exports is below 400,000 somatic cell count.
From birth, provide calves with a clean, comfortable environment with good colostrum management, consistent feeding and management practices and plenty of dietary calories
A new biological treatment could help dairy cattle stave off uterine diseases and eventually may help improve food safety for humans, a University of Florida study shows.
It’s one of those diseases that is always going to be a threat, but also can be minimized and managed with great success.
Progesterone is key to maintaining a healthy pregnancy.
Use on-farm culturing to determine proper care.