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Each case of mastitis in the first 30 days of lactation can be extremely costly to the dairy. Direct economic losses include diagnostics and treatment, veterinary fees, milk withhold and death loss.
The optimal dry period length remains a topic of practical interest and scientific study. Short dry period lengths reduce milk, fat and protein yield in the next lactation but allow for more milk harvested in the current lactation.
Larger farms struggle to effectively use individual cow alerts because there is little they can do to turn the information into action, but they are instead increasingly using pen-level insights to drive management decisions.
Nutritional management is vital to overall herd health and productivity. As we are learning more and more about how the connection between nutrition and efficiency begins at birth, we know it’s critical to deliver the necessary nutrients to each cow, at the correct stage of life, to maintain optimal output.
Efficiency is a term that is tossed around a lot in industry circles. Producers want efficient machinery to maximize production, accountants and creditors want efficient operations to ensure profit, nutritionists want efficient cows to signal good health – and so on.
The idea of the gut microbiome having an impact on health is not new. Hippocrates (400 B.C.) stated that, “Death is in the bowels, poor digestion is the origin of all evil.”
Finding abnormal milk when stripping a cow is like a person experiencing a sore throat: It could mean something more serious, like an infection that requires antibiotics, or it could be something that will resolve on its own.
Over the past several decades, much has changed in the dairy industry and how we manage cattle. As herds get bigger and more complex, we tend to manage groups of cows rather than individuals.
A smooth transition is necessary for successful lactation. Managers need to evaluate all components of their transition cow program to identify successes or where improvements are needed.
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