As summer months get closer and temperatures begin to ramp up, dairy producers from all over the world start to think of strategies to minimize the effects of heat stress on their farming operation.

We take so many things for granted in agriculture we don’t even realize that, once upon a time, these things did not exist. Someone, somewhere, created or discovered each one – and over the years, we’ve tended to forget those achievements.

Any nutritionist will tell you that optimizing dry matter intake (DMI) is one of the most important factors in achieving target milk production.

As a dairyman, are you looking to improve the way your fresh cows transition, take off, peak and breed back? Are you looking to improve rumen health, rumen function, overall health, digestion, feed efficiency and YOUR BOTTOM LINE??? If so, then “RECALIBRATE WITH RECAL”.

When was the last time you experienced “the best of both worlds”? As a figure of speech, you simply enjoyed the advantages of two very different things or situations at the same time.

The phone call came in one evening last month. A grass-based dairy farmer, whom I’ve known for years, was calling – there was a problem. Three cows were down; two of them were trembling with something like spasms.

Rumination, or a cow chewing her cud, is a vital part of a cow’s digestive system. If you examine a herd at any point in the day, you’re almost sure to find a majority of the cows ruminating. With advances in technology, rumination monitoring systems have become a popular way to measure rumination, which means they are also able to give us other information related to the cow’s nutrition, digestion and breeding.

Early detection and prompt treatment of sick cows helps minimize the detrimental effects on milk production, reproduction and overall well-being. Unfortunately, by the time a cow goes off feed, spikes a fever or shows other disease symptoms, she’s already on the path to production losses. Diagnosing health problems earlier can help reduce treatment costs, improve the chances of treatment success and get sick cows back on the road to lactation and reproductive success.