HERD HEALTH

The more time we spend following the right fresh cow protocols, the better the young cows will perform throughout the lactation.

From coast to coast, the Canadian climate sees large variations in levels of heat and humidity, but even a few days of elevated temperatures and moisture in the air can cause a dairy cow to experience heat stress and the negative impacts on production, reproduction and health that follow.

Consistently tracking and benchmarking milk production records within the herd by days in milk and lactation stage will make decision-making less susceptible to outlier data.

Milk quality means something different for every stakeholder in the dairy industry, according to Brandon Treichler, DVM.

The system for payment for milk protein changed in Canada in September 2018 from one based on crude protein (CP) to the new system based on the true protein content of milk.

It still amazes us when we get onto a dairy that has all their milking data at the push of a button but is not using any of it. Even worse, they may not even be going into the parlour because they think that somehow the system is electronically monitoring itself.