Every minute of every day, we act without thinking. We walk; we talk; we reach and grab for various items. While these things are now second nature, there was a time in all of our lives when each of these ...
In February, the 2016 Annual Dairy Policy Conference held in Ottawa ended with the Dairy Research Symposium hosted by the Dairy Research Cluster led by Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC).
Open to industry ...
Change has been the name of the game for European dairy producers this past year with the abolishment of the quota system, Russia’s embargo and months of low milk prices.
Many Dutch dairymen like Nils ...
A really smart anonymous person once said, “Most of the problems in life are because of two reasons: We act without thinking – or we keep thinking without acting.”
Daily chores and all of the demands ...
The number 2020 stares at me from the flip chart paper on my kitchen wall. This farm coach is being coached to set timelines for moving off our farmyard to make room for our successor to live on the main ...
There is a saying that goes something like this: “When you are up to your ‘you-know-what’ in alligators, it is hard to remember that the original plan was just to drain the swamp.”
It is the same with ...
Dairying is labour-intensive. Probably the most labour-intensive sector of agriculture. Hours are long, vacations are rare, and you miss out on time with family and friends.
It comes with the territory, ...
Spring is here, which means it’s time to begin thinking about minimizing heat stress for your cows over the next several months.
Keeping your cows cool and comfortable in hot weather is important for ...
Regardless of where your farm is located geographically, every dairy can benefit from cooling their cows. Have you reviewed your barn’s cooling system lately?
When evaluating or planning the cooling ...
Heat stress is known to cause a number of health and behaviour problems in dairy cows, including:
Decreased dry matter intake, resulting in weight loss
Decreased milk production
Decreased reproductive ...
It’s no secret that warm temperatures cause stress for dairy cows. While some effects are noticed immediately, like a drop in milk production, others rear their heads weeks or months later, like reduced ...
Keeping calf barns well ventilated during warm weather starts with the design of the facility. The Dairyland Initiative’s preferred nursery calf barn design is a one- or two-row individual calf pen building ...
Proper calf selection is beneficial for your 4-H dairy career. Creating your desired calf through strategic breeding is an approach to consider when building your show string.
Keen youth (and parents) ...
Chronic diarrhea. Weakness. Low bodyweight. Loss of appetite. Death. For decades, Holstein calves not responding to treatment left animal health professionals perplexed while costing dairy farmers worldwide ...
Dairy cow fertility has improved significantly over the past 10 to 15 years. Recent U.S. Department of Agriculture data show that on most farms, 21-day pregnancy rates are on the rise, with many herds ...
The ability to actively choose the gender of the calf to be born is now a reality on dairy farms. Indeed, the last 10 years have seen rapid evolution in semen-sexing technologies.
When sexed semen ...
There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind; Holsteins are getting bigger. Problems related to larger animals can include higher maintenance, more injury, issues fitting in existing stalls, increased calving difficulties ...
Health remains one of the primary reasons for animals leaving the herd. Why do some cows get sick more often than others when they’re living in the same environment, eating the same ration and being exposed ...
A single bolus – that is all a cow may require to increase her milk yield and longevity, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Dairy Science.
Researchers from Kansas State University ...
Dairy producers need to focus on numerous objectives when effectively managing the transition period. Successfully managing this life stage means there is no trade-off between cow health and milk production. ...
The transition period is a critical time. As the fetus requires maximum nutrients from the cow, the cow’s dry matter intake decreases by 10 to 30 percent – in addition to the onset of lactation.
The ...
Dairy cows experience a state of negative energy balance (NEB) during the transition from pregnancy to lactation when the energy demand of milk production cannot be met by feed intake alone.
The drop ...
In hockey, the term “goal differential” is the difference between the number of goals a team scores and the number of goals the team allows. Goal differential is one of the best predictors of a team’s ...
This month’s VAS DC305 tip is a tool you can use to help monitor protocol compliance and analyze disease incidence and reproduction.
Would you like to be able to tell when lactation animals are becoming ...
It was a sunny morning, and I was already running behind. I pushed back a bit of frustration as I hastily put on my boots to head to the dairy. It was one of those days winter doesn’t spoil you with too ...
With spring already here, that means summer is quickly approaching, and so is haying season. Now is the time to start thinking about pre-season maintenance and getting equipment out of winter storage. ...
Peter Gould, general manager, Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO), took a break from the DFO Spring Policy Conference to stop in at the PDO Triennial Symposium on March 23 in Toronto. His presentation focused ...
On Feb. 13, 42 western Canadian producers and a few WestGen staff boarded a red-eye flight in Toronto bound for Sao Paulo. The participants in the first international WestGen dairy tour had signed up to ...
Created on 30 March 2016
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