Transition cow performance and management is crucial to every herd’s success and profitability. Cows that are neglected during the transition period or that fail to have their needs met are being set up for failure. Herd productivity and profitability are distinctly linked to the success or failure of the transition period.

The dry period is an important stage in a dairy cow’s life as she transitions between lactations. Proper feeding and management of dry cows increases milk production during the next lactation and reduces the risk of metabolic disorders.

The 12th International Colloquium on Paratuberculosis (ICP) was held June 22-27, 2014, in Parma, Italy. It was also a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the International Association for Paratuberculosis (IAP), the sponsoring organization. The ICP brings together veterinary and human medical researchers, educators and livestock industry representatives to share current work on paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease).

Johne’s disease and mastitis are two of the most economically important diseases affecting the Canadian dairy industry.

To improve the control of these infectious diseases and reduce the limiting effects they have on the productivity of the industry, Dr. Herman Barkema from the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was appointed as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Industrial Research Chair in Infectious Diseases of Dairy Cattle.

Mastitis is one of the most important and most common diseases of dairy cows. Conventional therapy for mastitis usually includes antibiotics since bacteria are the most common cause of mastitis. But what about the pain associated with mastitis?

Milk urea nitrogen (MUN) allows dairy farmers, nutritionists and veterinarians to estimate how much crude protein a cow consumes and how well it is utilized. By definition, MUN is the amount of urea found in milk, and these values are positively correlated with the level of blood urea nitrogen (BUN).

Dairy cattle face numerous sources of stress, expected and unexpected, throughout their life cycle. One of the most predictable is heat stress, which can compromise cow health and production, both of which can have a significant economic impact on the profitability of a dairy.

Dairy farmers are committed to animal care. It is a fact that healthy, comfortable cows produce more milk – and of higher quality – and that a stressed cow will not meet her genetic potential.