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If you haven’t heard about the E.U.’s latest request for the U.S. dairy industry, you probably will soon, especially from your co-op.
Several processors sent letters to their dairy producer members in early May informing them that if they cannot ship milk that is on-farm tested to be lower than the E.U.’s legal somatic cell requirement of less than 400,000 SCC per milliliter (mL), they may not have a market for their milk later this fall.
“Being a solo practitioner gives me many opportunities to interact with dairymen. Not every time that I go to the dairy do I find the dairyman, the owner, but most of the time they are around when I visit. Some of my procedures I do with the owner, so we have good contact and very direct communication.
“My situation is a little different from a large clinic that has 15 to 20 vets where everyday there is a new vet that goes to a dairy. In big rotations you lose the ability to talk and address all of the issues, all of the concerns, all of the new ideas, all of the problems brought about by change.
On a dairy farm, only the cows produce income. Everything and everyone else – veterinarian included – is an expense to the bottom-line profit margin. How a veterinarian works with a dairy is based on whatever return on investment the dairy owner thinks he or she is receiving from the use of that veterinary practice.
As we learn more about the negative impact heat stress has upon cattle, technological advances provide options to make your dairy operation more profitable during summer heat. Some technologies include capital investments, such as fans, misters, shades and other cooling apparatuses, to reduce the ambient temperature in the cow’s environment.
August and September are the times of year when dairy cows in some areas are dry or close to going dry. Now is a good time to review your overall management program, but especially for dry cows.
Pregnant cows
If you do not have a recent pregnancy check, have a veterinarian check the bred cows and heifers that have not been confirmed pregnant to verify that they are pregnant. Some cows will lose their calf in the summer heat.
Cattle value reduced by virus exposure
Fever, pneumonia, diarrhea and compromised immunity are among the telltale signs of infection with the group of viruses that cause bovine viral diarrhea, an economically significant disease that affects cattle herds throughout the world. Calves exposed to a bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in utero may develop persistent infections and shed the virus throughout their lives. Post-birth exposure to BVDV usually leads to infections that last seven to 10 days.
What can a herdsman or worker do about cow comfort in the summertime or for those cows suffering from heat stress? The answer: Do more, earlier and quicker, for cows when they get sick.
Is peak production stressful? No! Peak production is the result of a healthy animal consuming high-quality feedstuffs and living in comfortable facilities. With that said, peak production is not without risks. A common expression is “Don’t sweat the small stuff!” When it comes to achieving and sustaining peak performance and high-quality milk in a dairy herd, attention to every aspects of the cow’s life is critical. Peak production requires sweating the small stuff.
Mastitis is the most costly disease of dairy cattle. Estimated losses due to mastitis approach $200 per cow per year in the United States. Sources of loss include reduced milk production, discarded milk, premature replacement costs, extra labor, drugs and veterinary service. This translates into an estimated annual loss of nearly $400,000 for a herd with 2,000 lactating cows.
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