Get a head start on managing your fly population this season
05/23/13 - Conversations
Warm weather is just around the corner and with the warm weather come flies. Not only are flies a nuisance to both animals and employees, they impact the health and well-being of the animal and cause economic losses that can last a lifetime. Heavy
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(WEST) CONVERSATIONS: Spider mites in corn silage fields
05/15/13 - Conversations
By Dennis Craig
When producers and their advisors meet in the conference room (or around the kitchen table), one conversation might cover spider mites, a tiny pest creating big problems.
Spider mites are a major corn silage
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CSI-Dairy: An elusive nutrition problem
05/14/13 - CSI Dairy
By Steve Riesenbeck
Numerous “culprits” exist on dairy farms, robbing herd performance and injuring the dairy’s bottom line. Identifying and arresting the offender isn’t always easy and often requires a full
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Corn plantings delayed; Monitor conditions to promote success
05/10/13 - Conversations
One of the coolest springs on records has delayed most producers across the Midwest from getting in the field. Typically, 42 percent of the corn in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois is planted by the first week in May. This year, only 5
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Better job interviews can break the cycle of employee turnover
05/02/13 - Conversations
Dairy producers often find themselves looking for new employees in a continuous hiring cycle. When an employee leaves, the urgent need for help can prompt you to hire the first qualified person who comes through the door.
“It’s a
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Start your calves out right
04/26/13 - Conversations
Each stage of a calf’s nutritional program is important to ensuring a healthy and profitable calf crop. A sound and well-managed feeding program is critical after birth to allow a good foundation for calves. In addition to water, colostrum and
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Transition cow immunity is critical for healthy and productive lactation
04/26/13 - Conversations
Research has established that transition cows are more susceptible to disease and reduced productivity, a result of the stressors associated with calving and lactation. Improving transition cow health should therefore focus upon strategies for
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CSI-Dairy: Subclinical hypocalcemia
04/24/13 - CSI Dairy
By Ken Zanzalari
Everything seemed normal with this well-managed Indiana Holstein herd, with the exception of a higher incidence of retained placentas and metritis. The nutritionist suggested reviewing the ration to see if it was
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Conversations: Ready for warmer weather?
04/19/13 - CSI Dairy
By Martha Baker
As we head into the warmest part of the year, one of the biggest mistakes is to be unprepared. Have a conversation with your veterinarian, nutritionist and consultants to make sure your operation is ready to keep cows
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Double check ground corn to boost milk production potential
04/05/13 - Conversations
What if you could stretch your corn supplies a bit further or increase milk production just by re-evaluating how fine your corn is ground? Dr. Dave LaCount, dairy nutritionist with Purina Animal Nutrition, says that if corn is not ground properly,
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Conditioning tips for superior hay quality
04/05/13 - Conversations
Producing consistent, top-quality hay requires tight management of harvest schedules to get hay cut at the proper time, then dried, baled and moved off the field quickly so the next cycle can begin.
Proper hay conditioning is a key element in
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A simple formula: Quality + Quantity = Effective calf nutrition
04/01/13 - Conversations
Research continues to show there are significant benefits to calf health and growth in addition to increases in first lactation milk yield when more milk is fed to calves. But it’s not just about feeding a higher volume of milk or milk
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Hay-cutting tips for superior hay quality
03/22/13 - Conversations
Achieving a good, clean cut, with minimum dirt and debris,
is key step toward harvesting top-quality hay
With alfalfa acres uncertain after the 2012 drought and both grass and alfalfa hay inventories low in many areas, brisk demand for
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Managing mastitis in dairy replacement heifers
03/20/13 - Conversations
Diet plays a key role in udder resistance to infection
Management of mastitis is most commonly focused on lactating cows. However, the prevalence of mastitis in unbred, breeding age and pregnant dairy heifers is higher than formerly realized,
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Starch: Variation is the name of the game
02/28/13 - Conversations
One nutritionist shares the important lessons he’s learned about starch.
Cows like consistency, particularly when it comes to their rations. But one part of the ration that is not always consistent is starch digestibility.
“On paper
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Eyeball manure for a quick read on feed utilization
02/22/13 - Conversations
Many tools exist to evaluate the effectiveness of a dairy cow’s diet. But the final judge of how well a ration performs is the cow herself. Dr. Stuart Rymph advises, “We shouldn’t overlook the vast amount of information you can
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Conversations: Ask your herd health consultant about digestive health and live probiotics
02/18/13 - Conversations
By Dr. Kevin Martens
Probiotics continue to gain attention in the dairy industry as a way to not only improve the digestive health, but also feed conversion of the animal. For probiotics to be effective, it’s important to
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CSI-Dairy: A cow-side Investigation into escalating SCC and mastitis
02/18/13 - CSI Dairy
By Dave Ohman, DVM
Numerous “culprits” exist on dairy farms, robbing herd performance and injuring the dairy’s bottom line. Identifying and arresting the offender isn’t always easy, and often requires a full
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Is communication the weakest link on your calf operation?
01/30/13 - Conversations
Calf managers often focus on addressing sanitation, nutrition and general calf management concerns. But, how much time is really spent addressing employee-related issues? Could communication or the lack thereof be at the root of calf management
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Rumination Data: What can it do for you?
01/22/13 - Conversations
By Tom Breunig
New technology to track rumination allows dairy producers and their management team to see abnormal deviations in dairy cow rumination patterns. This data can then be used to monitor a number of performance parameters
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5 tools to evaluate how you feed cows
01/17/13 - Conversations
When looking for ways to improve milk production or components oftentimes the focus is placed on adjusting small items in the ration, like increasing grams of metabolizable protein or metabolizable Lysine. But, frequently it’s the big picture
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Cut down on ration costs
12/10/12 - Conversations
Times of strife and high prices tend to bring out the creativeness in people. And, dairy producers and nutritionists can be amongst the most creative when it comes to their rations, says Kevin Leahy, nutritionist and technical services manager with
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It’s about pounds, not percentages
12/10/12 - Conversations
One nutritionist shares insights on how to better manage rations.
It’s not uncommon, when discussing rations to talk in terms of percentages. While these terms work well when discussing the ingredients themselves, they don’t provide
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Managing through high cost feed ingredient markets
12/04/12 - Conversations
Drought and the ensuing high feed prices have put many livestock producers in a feed shortage going into winter. With high feed prices expected to continue at least until the 2013 harvest what can producers do to get the best value for each feed
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Inbreeding management hits home for large dairy operation
12/04/12 - Conversations
As dairy operations continue to grow in size; dairy producers are continuously looking to maintain optimal efficiencies and develop sustainable business plans. An often overlooked component in strategic business planning is genetic management. The
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