Preston VincentDairy XL Development ManagerLely North AmericaFloyds Knobs, Indiana

Several years ago, Wisconsin started to have a higher level of drug residue violations in its dairy cull animals. Concerned by this, a group of private veterinarians banded together in 2009 to form the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association (WVMA) HACCP (hazard analysis and critical control points) for Proper Drug Use Program. They felt that this issue could be fixed with high quality education.

Milk – it’s a four-letter word that carries so many connotations. Today, milk is old fashioned and unexciting. It’s not new. It’s not exciting. It’s the same milk our parents were drinking. Perhaps that’s why milk has been losing market share as a beverage. As an industry, we need to find a way to revitalize the conversation about milk and generate excitement.

During the week of Jan. 4, 13 students, including myself, Micheala Slind, from the University of Wisconsin and one of our dairy science instructors, Ted Halbach, spent a large amount of time with Purina staff from around the Midwest in a series of learning opportunities.

$37,500 daily – that is what the EPA fined Andy Johnson of Wyoming when he built a pond on his land to water his horses. $37,500 a day, even though he obtained his required permits allowing for the construction of his pond.

From milk prices to mastitis and feed intakes to fresh cows, dairy producers have a lot on their minds at any given time. The changing societal view of antibiotics is just one little piece of all there is to focus on.

Katie BoescheDairy NutritionistProvimi North AmericaDayton, Ohio

Donate a box of Girl Scout cookies and a gallon of milk will tag along.

I am happy to now be providing a VAS DC305 tip each month. It will usually be something more advanced in DC305 that is beneficial for monitoring and managing your dairy herd, but not necessarily something everyone may be familiar with.

Valdivia, Chile, was the host city for the 10th International Conference on Lameness in Ruminants, and what a winner this conference was! Researchers, hoof trimmers, veterinarians and students alike met in South America for the conference held late last year.