As we move forward as a society, the dairy industry will continue to have to justify the use of antibiotics on their operations.

Recent research from the University of California – Davis offers further indication oral calcium supplementation may support increased milk production in addition to supplying the extra calcium needed to ward off subclinical hypocalcemia.

When close-up cows are fed a negative dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) diet, it induces a metabolic acidosis, which acidifies the urine.

Cow health, nutrition and reproduction are key when trying to find the best options for the transition period of dairy cows. That said, there is a lot of information about nutritional strategies that can be tough to sort through.

The C.O.W.S. program has been successful in working with dairy producers and their teams to unlock bottlenecks in their operations.

I have been a dairy nutritionist for over 33 years, and I am usually the first to know when one of my dairies is having hoof health problems. While many issues with cow health point back to nutrition, I have found that hoof problems, more often than not, stem from environmental causes rather than nutrition.

No one likes to see a lame cow – not the farmer, vet, employee, hoof trimmer, consumer and especially not the cow itself.

From hot and muggy summer nights to frosty winter mornings, Minnesota is known for weather extremes. But at Johnson’s Rolling Acres near Rushford, the cows can’t tell the difference.

Moisture is one of the primary life-sustaining requirements for bacteria. Take it away and you’ll greatly reduce the opportunity for bacteria to survive.