Your cows may not have a crystal ball, but monitoring technology used during the dry period may provide valuable information that can be used to predict the risk of potential health disorders that could affect lactation performance post-calving. Considering dry cows often are “out of sight and out of mind,” monitoring technology can fill the gap by keeping tabs on them 24-7.

Skeletal muscle plays a crucial role in dairy cows’ health and productivity, but it’s also a very dynamic tissue. It can be mobilized to support milk production during periods of negative energy balance, but recovery of lost muscle is much slower.

Calving is not a disease; it is a stage that needs to be managed and how that is done will impact a cow for her entire lactation. Best practices for transitioning a cow from far-off fresh to her lactation group has a host of areas that need focused attention by the entire management team on the dairy. 

Managing bovine respiratory disease (BRD) can sometimes feel like a game of whack-a-mole for dairy producers. Many stressors can pop up with little to no advanced warning early in a calf’s life, putting them at greater risk for developing BRD.  

Our study demonstrates that incorporating probiotics as a preventive measure is an innovative approach to proactively prevent and fight diseases, surpassing the need for antibiotics once symptoms arise.

It would be handy to have a crystal ball at dry-off time. After freshening, will the cow produce high-quality colostrum that transfers needed antibodies to her calf? Will she freshen without mastitis?