Latest News From Maureen Hanson

The goal of formulating milk replacer is to as closely as possible duplicate – and even improve upon – whole milk. A team of researchers is exploring how to do that based on fat source choices and fatty acids.

Liver abscesses remain a singular, dark cloud over the otherwise sunny segment of dairy-beef-cross cattle. Several entities are performing research to try to solve this frustrating industry obstacle.

Bacteria, viruses, and protozoa all have crafty methods of making preweaned calves sick. Veterinarian Don Sockett shares his advice on fighting these organisms through effective cleaning and sanitation routines.

The best-quality colostrum is thick, creamy, and has a beautiful golden color, right? Not necessarily, according to Danish veterinarian and researcher Hanne Skovsgaard Pedersen.

Numerous studies have now shown that feeding colostrum replacer to mimic transition milk has beneficial effects for preweaned calves.

If you want to stay ahead of calf health and catch sickness in its earliest stage, University of Minnesota Graduate Student Abbigail Prins offers a handy detection tip.

If you’ve flown internationally recently, you may have had a first-hand experience with facial recognition software.Now that technology has found its way to the dairy parlor.

Feed-out of new-crop corn silage has begun on most dairies, and it appears this crop may be more prone than normal to silage collapses.

Whether you’re building a new calf barn or retrofitting an existing structure, there are measures that can be taken to ensure the best possible calf comfort, welfare, and health.

Gene editing has been used experimentally to produce polled calves and calves with lighter-colored haircoats. Now, USDA researchers, have produced a calf with reduced susceptibility to bovine viral diarrhea virus.

For the past 13 years, Cornell researchers have been developing the latest, highly anticipated CNCPS version 7.

Where do dairy products fit into the changing picture of weight management?

Inulin is a type of soluble fiber found in plants that is not digestible by humans. However, this not-so-talked-about substance is showing considerable promise in enhancing lactating-cow nutrition.

Routinely monitoring transfer of passive immunity is an effective way to evaluate colostrum management and identify calves with failure of passive transfer.

A recent survey shows that the likelihood of using pain mitigation for common procedures like dehorning, disbudding and castration was directly linked to the human managers’ perception of pain for the animal.

Cryptosporidia is one of the most common scours-causing pathogens in preweaned calves, and, unfortunately, it strikes in the early weeks of life when calves are most vulnerable.

These 4 management tips can help you keep cows productive through cold conditions.

Is the blanket approach of giving calcium boluses to every fresh cow really the best route to prevent milk fever?

Despite the myths, you can have both high production and high fertility.

A popular combination of enhancements in calf starter rations has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for replacement heifers.

In both human and veterinary medicine, we’re hearing more about the benefits of gut supplements to support health, performance, and well-being.

Beef cross calves are currently generating healthy profits for dairies. They also are a welcome addition to the beef supply chain, according to Dr. Zeb Gray, Beef Technical Feedlot Specialist with Diamond V.

If your Christmas shopping list contains people who work daily with animals, you’ll want to get them something meaningful that speaks to the things they enjoy, and might make their workday a little more pleasant, too.

Liver abscesses in finished beef-cross cattle continue to frustrate feeders and packers. Severe liver abscesses negatively impact cattle performance in a number of ways.

A team of Irish researchers has developed a breakthrough innovation to monitor activity and health characteristics of dairy cows – and it doesn’t involve and wires, chips, batteries, or electronics of any kind.

More calves born on dairies than ever before are eventually headed to feedyards these days. Performance and profitability merits sending healthy animals from the calf-rearing stage to the feedlot.

Five tips to fine-tune your transition cow health protocols.

In a recent study involving 40 Holstein calves, researchers found that the calves with jackets gained an average of 11.68 pounds more than those without. Those calves also had a lower incidence of scours.

Waste milk is not necessarily the “free lunch” it is often perceived to be, and may actually be a quite harzardous and costly liquid ration option.

For decades, 305 days of lactation, plus a 60-day dry period, has added up to a dairy cow’s target calving interval of one year. But is this a standard that needs to be broken?

Calves coming down with illness often are very good at masking their symptoms. Use these methods to detect sickness or stress early on.

Feeding hay to preweaned dairy calves remains a topic of frequent confusion and debate. Should you do it at all? And if so, when, and what type? Penn State offers some answers.

Have we hit the low point for the average productive lifespan of dairy cows?

Mercer Vu Dairy wanted to utilize group housing and waste milk to raise their preweaned calves with round-the-clock access to milk. Here's how they came up with their own one-of-a-kind system.

Heat stress undoubtedly causes setbacks for cows. But a growing body of research shows it also impacts the calves they are carrying, and possibly even the generation after that.

Could fewer vaccinations reduce the incidence of BRD in beef-on-dairy calves? Some bovine veterinarians believe so. Dr. Dan Thomson shares four practices he says will serve these calves and the ag industry better.

In these tumultuous times of drought, global unrest, and supply chain disruptions, feed grains may not be as plentiful, available, and affordable as we have traditionally enjoyed.

The best and most effective technologies in dairy production today are not necessarily the ones with the most bells and whistles. Rather, they’re the ones that simply “let cows be cows.”

The Cryptosporidium parasite is endemic to even the tidiest dairy farms, and is especially threatening to calf health. But it can be kept at bay in the calf management system with one simple and consistent approach.

The most precious cargo in a barn fridge is most likely the biologics you purchase to vaccinate your herd to prevent diseases. How are you protecting them?

One Holstein sire born in 1962, Pawnee Farm Arlinda Chief, sired 16,000 daughters, 500,000 great-granddaughters, and more than 2 million great-granddaughters.

What’s the perfect close-up ration to optimize calf health -- something that’s not too much of this or too little of that, but “just right?”

We don’t feed dairy calves the way we used to, and that’s a very good thing, according to calf industry consultant Dave Kuehnel.

The heat is on, and calves feel it, too. Here are five strategies to help calves cope as summer sizzles on.

Ruminants walk a fine line in their ability to utilize certain feedstuffs while maintaining digestive integrity. Michigan State University researchers recently evaluated the effect of starch in dairy diets.

Manure analysis can provide telling insights into what nutrients actually are being digested in a ration.

A popular Chinese herbal supplement is being evaluated as a potential feed additive to mitigate the effects of heat stress in dairy cattle.

The dairy cattle of the future may be more comfortable and less susceptible to heat stress thanks to genetic alterations to change the physical characteristics and color of their hair coats.

Calves and heifers aren’t as susceptible to heat stress as cows, but they do suffer from it to some degree, and their production is diminished as a result.

Kentucky-based feed and food additive company Alltech has acquired a majority interest in Agolin, a Swiss company specializing in sustainable animal nutrition.