Web-Exclusive Practice Tips
10 management steps to dairy profitability
(9/8/2010)
Optimum dairy farm income is possible only when adequate resources are coupled with capable dairy farm management. Recent decreases in milk income and increased volatility of feed prices along with the financial crisis has forced us to make decisions that provide economic flexibility to our dairy operations. Getting back to basics is always a wise idea during tough economic times. What follows is a discussion of the top ten basic management areas to focus on for dairy profitability.
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Don't skip respiratory vaccines
(9/3/2010)
No matter the type of operation, BRD can be difficult and costly for all producers to manage.
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Fetal loss from ultrasound vs. palpation in beef
(9/2/2010)
Pregnancy diagnosis is widely practiced in cattle production systems.
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Management critical to BVDV eradication
(9/2/2010)
What is the real cost of a calf persistently infected with BVDV? That is the question the beef industry has asked itself the past 10 years.
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Calf preconditioning
(8/16/2010)
With greater attention given to beef quality and safety, good animal husbandry practices and preventive health measures have become increasingly important. However, producers don’t have to turn their animal health program upside down to achieve a high-quality product.
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Pre-breeding vaccinations
(8/16/2010)
When cattle producers think about vaccinations, they more commonly think about vaccinating calves instead of cows. According to a survey published in 2009 by the USDA and the National Animal Health Monitoring System, a higher percentage of cattle producers give vaccinations to calves (65.5%) than to cows (53.3%).
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Realistic vaccine expectations
(8/12/2010)
Producers expect a lot from vaccines, and most of the time they are happy with the results.
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New heat stress model for cattle
(8/2/2010)
New heat stress model from ARS researchers incorporates predictions of temperature, humidity, sun intensity and wind speed.
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Tips for fall calving herds
(8/2/2010)
Tips for fall calving herds include preparing for calves, scoring cows and bull considerations.
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Longer post-treatment intervals can equate to profits
(7/29/2010)
Post-treatment interval (PTI) may bring to mind a complicated series of mathematical equations, but it really comes down to a period of time when beef producers don’t have to do much more than keep an eye on their cattle — and that downtime can even put more dollars in their pockets.
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Feeding in the heat
(7/29/2010)
The recent hot weather present challenges to keeping cattle healthy and on feed. Great Plains Livestock Consulting Inc. offers these suggestions to help get cattle back on feed and reduce further performance loss.
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Metritis risk factors
(7/20/2010)
The goal of fresh cow programs is to transition cows into high production while ensuring a healthy return to reproductive cyclicity. Shortly after calving, lactation energy demands start to compete for nutrients. Reduced nutrient availability can then leave fresh cows more susceptible to diseases and reproductive challenges.
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Limit feeding for heat stress
(7/20/2010)
Limit feeding can be useful in the summer to reduce heat stress on animals.
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Preg Check And Cull Replacement Heifers Early
(7/15/2010)
Many Oklahoma ranchers choose to breed the replacement heifers about a month ahead of the mature cows in the herd.
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Fridge health = calf health
(7/7/2010)
Do you have two refrigerators? If so, chances are good that the nice-looking, newer model is in your kitchen, and the one it replaced is in the garage, mudroom, porch or barn. While your kitchen fridge may hold $75 worth of food, the second unit very likely stores hundreds of dollars worth of animal health products.
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Veterinary pharmaceuticals disposal
(7/1/2010)
The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has released a video and other materials illustrating best practices on the proper disposal of veterinary pharmaceuticals.
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Nutrition problem indicators
(6/29/2010)
A number of nutritional products and feeding management strategies can be used as supportive treatment for various metabolic and infectious diseases. Proper nutrition can minimize the incidence or help control metabolic, infectious, and reproductive disorders in a dairy herd.
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Implant calves for extra pounds
(6/24/2010)
For cow-calf producers, implanting calves is one of the most profitable tools available — returning far more in weight gain and feed efficiency than the cost of the implant itself.
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Methionine for health
(6/22/2010)
It’s difficult for cattle to get enough metabolizable, or bypass, methionine in their diets. The traditional dairy cow diet with alfalfa, corn silage and soy-based feedstuffs is typically short by up to eight or nine grams of bypass methionine. It is also recognized that growing beef cattle can benefit from five to 10 grams per day of additional methionine under a variety of feeding and management conditions, including high forage range diets.
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Treatment principles for metritis
(6/15/2010)
Metritis is a common disease challenge facing fresh cows on many dairies with incidence rates ranging from 10 to 30% in herds.
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Calf nutrition and heat stress
(6/14/2010)
Heat-stressed calves require more energy to regulate their body temperature and maintain growth.
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Heat stress can reduce pregnancy rates
(6/14/2010)
The effects of heat stress on reproductive performance of beef cows has been discussed by many animal scientists in a variety of ways.
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Below target body condition at calving
(6/10/2010)
The body condition of cows after calving can sometimes be surprising. The 150 pounds or so of calf and fluids are gone and it becomes much easier to see the amount of condition, or lack there of, along the back of the cow and over the hooks.
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Adding to the bottom line with increased cow comfort
(6/1/2010)
In the dairy industry, it's a commonly held belief that cow comfort contributes to healthier and higher producing dairy herds. One additional way to increase cow comfort is to manage and control ectoparasites like mange and lice. Comfortable cows simply produce more milk.
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Dystocia and body condition score
(5/25/2010)
Dystocia occurs when a cow or heifer has a difficult time giving birth. Heifers have more of a problem with dystocia than cows, regardless of the operation’s genetic program, says Chris Reinhardt, PhD, Kansas State University.
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