Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer recently signed a controversial new law that gives Arizona's local law enforcement and county attorneys more authority to "assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws." When the changes are effective in August, local cops will have more power to detain, question and even deliver to federal authorities those they stop who do not have proper residency documentation.

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Successfully navigating the transition period can be difficult on many accounts. Maintaining dry matter intake (DMI), adapting to social challenges and bypassing potential metabolic disorders that loom postpartum can cause cows to struggle in the milking string. Knowing how to identify uterine health problems and understanding the financial implications of uterine health disorders allows for more effective treatment and reduced incidence in the herd.

The Waterman Dairy Center near The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio, will soon transition to a herd that is 100 percent Jersey. The discussion to have an all-Jersey herd began in June 2009 and was driven by feed costs.

On March 31st a meeting was attended by over 160 individuals representing 87 dairies with just under 260,000 cows to provide input into how dairy producers in Idaho want their organization to address the current ongoing dairy crises. The economics of the dairy industry is like any other industry; if supplies outpace demand, the price will go down; when supplies are short, price will go up. The question lies in how to control supply. Everyone realizes that if producers fail to make a correction in the supply/demand equation, the market place eventually will. In 1980 there were approximately 225,000 commercial dairy operations in the United States; 30 years later we are down to less than 57,000. The market place has made the necessary adjustments to keep supply and demand in balance, even with all of the current government programs.

The reproductive performance of a dairy herd can be affected by three nutritional issues. There can be: 1. an inadequate supply of nutrients (e.g. energy) 2. an excess supply of nutrients (e.g. protein) 3. unplanned anti-nutritional dietary components (e.g. toxins, pathogens, etc.)

What are the two key elements of a winning basketball team? It takes talented players and good coaching. What about your dairy farm? What are two of the key elements of a winning milk-producing team? It takes talented cows (players) and good management (coaching). Let us use a series of questions and answers to expand on this metaphor.

Every dairy producer knows the importance of feeding enough high-quality colostrum to newborn dairy calves. However, getting the right amount of clean colostrum into the calf as early as possible can be a real challenge. Limited labor resources, less-than-optimal facilities or lack of training often make the tasks of managing newborns one of the lower priorities on the dairy farm. This is particularly true when newborns are bull calves. However, the long-term implications of poor colostrum management are profound. Calves that receive adequate passive immunity are healthier, have less scours, grow faster and make more milk when they enter the herd compared to calves that receive inadequate passive immunity. It’s important to the calf to do colostrum “right.”