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Cows like it cool and they’re most comfortable and perform best when the air temperature is below 20°C. When temperatures get above 20°C for extended periods of time, a cow’s hormone levels change, altering her behaviour and decreasing her ability to get pregnant.
When analyzing national breeding indexes, we’ve learned one size does not fit all. In fact, indexes differ quite drastically to accommodate varying breeding philosophies.
While these indexes all aim to create a unified ranking for selecting genetics, the development of any index is challenging.
Heifer genotyping is a tool producers can use according to their needs. For example, it can be used to better assess the commercial value of the top heifers or cows in the herd, or to decide which bulls to use for mating.
Recently, a University of Guelph-based graduate student working under the supervision of Professor Stephen LeBlanc completed a master’s research project that investigated the comparative results achieved between timed A.I. versus the use of activity monitors.
Many studies and research articles have been conducted and all have drawn the same conclusion: There is no physical way to remove horns on dairy animals without creating a task no human wants to do – causing pain to an animal – and thus creating an image the general public cannot understand.
Around the world and especially in North America, the purebred Holstein dairy cow is hard to beat for milk, fat and protein yields. The Holstein cow is also popular for commercial production of milk, particularly in fluid milk markets. The purebred Jersey cow has also earned a place in the sun in cheese-producing areas in Wisconsin, California and Texas.
In an increasingly competitive and complex industry, producers are looking for an edge.
Whether making nutritional decisions for herd management, conducting research to learn more about how genetics can improve traits such as milk production or managing more with less, today’s dairy producers are getting busier every day.
It may be termed a changing of the guard at Quality Holsteins, but long-time herdsman Don Schwartz describes it “as a transition much more than an overthrow.”
Paul Ekstein, who began a Holstein herd as an offshoot of his forage seed business, is turning over leadership of Quality Farms to his son, Ari, and the most noticeable difference is the way genetics are marketed.
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