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Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton says he hopes to boost the state's farm exports when he goes on a couple of trade missions this fall.
Dayton spoke at the annual Farmfest show in southwestern Minnesota. He says Minnesota's agricultural economy generates about $16 billion a year and that exports are a big part of that.
Whether it’s natural or mechanical, barn ventilation is imperative when it comes to the welfare of dairy cattle. However, ventilation alone does not always provide the necessary air movement for cooling and comfort needs, a sensitivity that animals can intrinsically demonstrate simply by their eating habits, conception rates and milk production.
Without a cooling breeze, the simple ventilation designed into a building isn’t enough. A properly designed and equipped barn will not only allow an adequate air exchange rate, but will also improve cow comfort.
The Southern Great Plains Dairy Consortium, where students are able to obtain hands-on experiences in large-herd dairy management, recently completed its fourth summer session. The six-week program, which combines classroom instruction with visits to dairies where students can put into practice what they learn in the classroom, surpassed its attendance from last year with 52 students from 13 universities.
Death rates of adult cows on U.S. dairies have risen steadily over the last couple of decades. When calculating death losses as a percent of rolling herd inventory on an annual basis, it is now typical for dairies to have 8 to 10 percent mortality.
If we look at literature from 30 to 40 years ago, it appears that 1 to 3 percent mortality losses were typical. Unfortunately, this feature of dairy animal performance has not been historically monitored as an important aspect of herd management, and there are no established benchmarks or targets.
Accelerated Genetics, Baraboo and Westby, Wisconsin, a global provider of bovine genetics and research, has been awarded the “Compass Award” for its long-term commitment to excellence in the stewardship of its employees’ retirement assets. The award was given by Francis Investment Counsel, a nationally recognized expert retirement plan investment consulting organization.
MINTREX chelated trace minerals from Novus International, Inc., belongs to a new feed ingredient category. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) accepted this new feed ingredient definition July 31, during its 2011 Ingredient Definitions Committee Meeting in Austin, Texas.
Accelerated Genetics, Baraboo and Westby, Wisconsin, a global provider of bovine genetics and research, has been awarded the “Compass Award” for its long-term commitment to excellence in the stewardship of its employees’ retirement assets. The award was given by Francis Investment Counsel, a nationally recognized expert retirement plan investment consulting organization.
MINTREX chelated trace minerals from Novus International, Inc., belongs to a new feed ingredient category. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) accepted this new feed ingredient definition July 31, during its 2011 Ingredient Definitions Committee Meeting in Austin, Texas.
Editor’s note: The following article is the second in a series discussing electrolyte formulation and function in calves. Click here to read the first article in the series.
A curious thing about electrolyte ingredients is that even though they are listed on the label, many of them don’t end up in the solution we feed to the calf. There is no sodium chloride. There is no sodium bicarbonate, or sodium acetate, calcium lactate, potassium chloride or a number of other ingredients.
So ... what happens to them? It’s actually quite simple. They dissociate, or separate into their basic components when they dissolve in water – or any aqueous medium such as blood plasma and other body fluids.
Much of the corn and soybean market attention is appropriately focused on the prospective size of the 2011 U.S. crops and speculation about the USDA’s August 11 Crop Production report. The size of these crops will obviously largely determine the magnitude of supplies available for consumption during the 2011-12 marketing year. The magnitude of old crop stocks on September 1 will also contribute to next year’s supply. As the 2010-11 marketing year enters the final month, there are indications that both soybean and corn consumption will fall short of the most recent USDA projections.
