Rules, rules, rules. Use only low-potassium forages, don’t feed buffers, feed lots of wheat straw, chop straw to 1-inch particle size, thoroughly blend all ration ingredients into a TMR, move cows onto the pre-fresh diet 21 days before calving, check urine pH for a minimum of eight cows, at four to six hours after feeding, every week.

Transition cows get a lot of attention in the herd, as the transition period brings significant challenges.