Mycotoxins creep into many producer discussions with their nutritionists and veterinarians. They are very complex, and a lot is still unknown about them. Hopefully, this article will help shed some light on the source and potential implications of the various mycotoxins you could discover on your dairy operation.

Supplemental fat continues to be a practical means of sustaining energy intake in high-producing cows. However, the economic success of using supplemental fat depends not only on proper selection of fat sources but also on knowing how much fat to feed and when to feed it.

In all aspects of your farming and dairy operation, you are applying increased precision to accomplish tasks, leaving less to chance and directing resources to where the return on investment will be greatest.

In my prior article, I showed the financial investment via time for a hoof trimmer to record foot health. This requires correct lesion identification skills and the ability to communicate. The farmer needs his hoof health team, which must consist of a veterinarian, feed consultant, breed improvement specialist and hoof trimmer, and each team member should have access to the recorded observations.

Most Progressive Dairyman readers do not have a good work-life balance.

Chris Church
Veterinary Technical Consultant
Elanco Animal Health
Tavistock, Ontario

Trends continue to snowball with labels about what’s in a food product being expanded to how that food was grown or processed. Gluten-free, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, cage-free, everything-else-free labels are multiplying. It seems almost every day I see a new announcement from a company or a grocery store ad or a label on something I go to buy that has a claim like this.