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Every dairy farmer has an overabundance of demands on both time and mind. It’s a very easy (and expensive) mistake to neglect to pay attention to the hooves and mobility of animals.
While there are many management practices that can control and reduce lameness in the herd, there is really no “one-time quick fix” practice that is effective.
Good footwear is an important piece of gear for dairy producers. When your feet hurt due to ill-fitting boots, an accidental hoof placement or any nagging foot ailment that inflicts pain with every step, it’s pretty hard to work at maximum productivity. That’s exactly what dairy cows are forced to deal with when lameness sets in – except their feet carry the weight of 1,400 pounds.
Calving and the subsequent transition into lactation are the greatest challenges in the productive life of a dairy cow. Cows must deal with a high demand for energy and nutrients to make colostrum and milk.
But this demand cannot be met by feed intake alone – which leads to negative energy balance (NEB) and nutrient deficiencies.
Dairy cows transitioning from gestation to lactation are challenged with an increased energy requirement; however, energy intake is insufficient to meet this metabolic demand.
Therefore, transition dairy cattle will experience a period of negative energy balance which promotes the release of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) from adipose tissue.
As I write, it is only two weeks until I turn 30. Although I’ve known it was coming for a while, only now, seeing it in print, do I realize what a large sum the number contains. Although it is a common and predictable angst shared by all of humanity that makes it this far, that does not lessen its totality.
I know that farming is not always simple. There seems to be a standard for farmers that they should be carefree and happy all the time, but happiness is not always how it’s imagined.
In the last few articles, I have focused on “burning boats” at the beginning of marriage, leaving no escape routes. I have written about burning boats and building new ones. There is one more sealer that must be put on new boats to keep them floating in the turbulent waters of adversity where every marriage must float.
I had a friend tell me one time that my dad was like his: “He doesn’t care what it looks like as long as it runs.” My thought was, “This guy sure doesn’t know David Overbay.”
One thought that was drilled into me from a boy is that cleaner really does run better, and one of Dad’s favorite sayings when asked why he bought a new tractor or took the time to paint an old one was, “Every once in a while, I like to burn the paint off a manifold.”
In conjunction with the Western Section of the American Society of Animal Science (WSASAS) meeting, Leticia Camacho, Hannah Cunningham and Bryan Welly were honored as recipients of the 2014 Young Scholar Recognition Program award. Camacho was honored for her doctoral research, while Cunningham and Welly were honored for their master’s research.
This year’s Women in Dairy Conference will mark the 10th anniversary of this biannual event designed to provide inspiration and insight for Pennsylvania women engaged in the dairy industry. It will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Best Western Premier Hotel, 800 East Park Drive, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
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