Garbage disposal on dairies is an issue that doesn’t usually receive much attention, having sometimes unseen negative impacts on business productivity and image.

As a person who’s been at both the end of a halter and as a judge in the center of the show ring, I’ve been exposed to many showing “techniques.” Many of these don’t fool the judge, but have become common practice.

Cows like to eat high-moisture feeds. Remember the cow grazing? There are high-moisture byproduct feedstuffs we can feed our cows. How much do high-moisture feeds really cost? Are they a good buy compared to the alternative? Here is how you can make that decision.

In the National Mastitis Council’s February 1997 newsletter, Washington State University researchers concluded one of the following three practices were necessary to successfully clean a dairy’s cloth prep towels. Performing two of the three would add an extra margin of safety to ensure sanitized towels:

Because of costs associated with the construction and maintenance of freestall barns, dairy farmers may limit the number of feeding and resting places available for cows in order to maximize utilization of facilities. Facility design, such as whether there are two or three rows of stalls per feedline, may also influence the number of cows that have to share a particular resource. However, the impact of overcrowding on cow behavior, welfare and productivity should be considered.

Taurus adds a new Powerhouse Taurus Service, Inc., announces the debut of 76HO0437 Windy Knoll View Powerhouse EX-93. This Outside son of Stardust Peggy x Pala exhibits an impressive type profile without a single negative in his proof. He is +2.54PTAT +2.09 UDC +2.02 F&L. Powerhouse is siring daughters with extreme size and strength with a deep, open rib structure. He also scores 2.93 Strong for fore udder attachment and 2.79 High in rear udder height. A breed leader at +3.5 PL and low SCS (2.90), along with having positive values for milk, fat and protein pounds and percent, Powerhouse is the new bull to consider with +1568 TPI.

It may come as a shock that I, a man who cannot fry eggs without searing an impermeable layer of formica on the bottom, who still has not mastered Minute-Rice and whose idea of a salad is a jalapeño and Miracle Whip, would keep abreast of the latest trends in haut cuisine.

First celebrated in 2000, World School Milk Day is an international, annual event held on the last Wednesday in September. Established by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the day provides an opportunity for the international community to focus on the importance of school milk and its health benefits for growing children.

The management of feeding and nutrition are the primary areas of interest when attempting to reduce lameness problems. This may or may not be the correct approach, depending upon the specific types of lameness experienced. For example, it would be hard to influence the incidence of infectious foot diseases (foot rot, interdigital dermatitis or digital dermatitis) by manipulation of the diet alone.

Corn distillers grains are becoming more readily available, due primarily to the rapid growth in the number of ethanol plants. Wet milling of corn is designed to produce pure starch and capture the maximum value from each kernel of corn. Each bushel of corn yields on average 31.5 pounds of starch, 12.5 pounds of gluten feed, 2.5 pounds of gluten meal and 1.6 pounds of oil. Four major types of livestock feedstuffs are produced: