“Today we have a third of the number of cows we had in 1960, and we’re producing more milk,” said Christine Baes of the University of Guelph during her keynote presentation at the 2024 Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council annual meeting. “That’s a pretty good sustainability story, but when you Google ‘sustainability and dairy cows,’ you see headlines about cow flatulence. Why is that?”

At the intersection of tradition and innovation lies the future of dairy farming, which is increasingly intertwined with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. AI has emerged as a transformative force as the industry responds to marketplace pressures and technological advancements. While integrating AI in dairy practices presents challenges, it also offers significant opportunities.

Ranchers are constantly striving to maximize the productivity of their native rangeland, as raising and selling heavy and healthy calves is key to profitability. Helping producers enhance calf weight gain while maintaining the optimum body condition of the cow herd is critical to keeping operations profitable.

Efficiency is efficiency, right? Turns out, it’s probably not that simple. Efficiency in a feedlot and at the cow-calf level are two very different things.

Producers across the varying sectors of agriculture have been forced to find ways to generate revenue and cut costs. In the heart of the Gulf Coast Rice Belt, innovation took the form of rice-based feeds.

As with all areas of dairy operations, increasing efficiency – in this case of feed in the rumen – deserves attention because when it is improved, gains can be seen beyond the area of focus, not to mention in sustainability (this includes economically) as well.

It is essential to reduce variation when dealing with what represents – on average – 45% of the cost of operating and is a major source of stress for both the animals and employees.

It’s no secret: Feed has always accounted for, by far, the biggest production expense of beef cattle production.

As a beef producer, sustainability is defined as your continued ability to live comfortably, to maintain a way of life that you have chosen for yourself and to ensure that you can pass that way of life on to your children and your children’s children.