Feed efficiency can be defined as the amount of milk produced per unit of feed intake during a normal lactation, and will be affected by bodyweight changes and environmental factors (e.g. heat stress).

The oldest family farm in the U.S. will be sold. The Tuttle family has owned the farm in Dover, New Hampshire, for nearly 400 years. The news article appeared in many national press newspapers including the New York Times (published Aug. 1, 2010). The agricultural and naturalist writer Merlyn Klinkenborg wrote of the sale in his weekly column.

You already know that managing your herd to produce more milk per cow can make you more money. But did you know that it is also an excellent way to decrease the carbon footprint of your dairy? The bottom line (when it comes to the environment) is that using fewer resources to produce more milk will improve your herd’s carbon footprint.

I have often made the statement, “the more feed an early lactation cow eats, the more milk she can produce and the more profit she can potentially make for her owner.” This statement emphasizes the importance of managing dairy cows to optimize feed intake, especially in early lactation and during the pre-fresh period. Why is this?

Dairies have been adopting new technologies for generations. Our grandparents or great-grandparents may have been among the first in the area to use a milking machine or A.I. Can you imagine dairying today without bulk tanks and refrigeration, or automatic waterers? Now, robotic milkers and computerized calf feeding systems are becoming common. Makes you wonder what tools the next generation of progressive dairies will use. Which brings us to some critical questions: How do you, as a dairy manager, decide which technologies are right for your operation? Do you go with something that has the most enticing advertising? Or the one recently purchased by the most innovative dairy you know?

For many decades, nutritional science has been focused on identifying nutrients, such as proteins, vitamins and minerals, and understanding their role in biological processes. Understanding how these nutrients reinforce the health of the cow, and thereby prevent diseases resulting from their deficiencies, has been a major objective in the dairy industry. Recently, a new science, referred to as nutrigenomics, has emerged as a result of significant developments in genetic research. Nutrigenomics is the study of molecular relationships between genes, their response to specific nutrients and how those responses can impact animal health and performance. Through the use of microarray technology, we can now study the impact of nutrients on specific genes and their genetic expression.

Harvesting, storing and feeding high-quality forages can help your dairy survive a challenging dairy economy by increasing your margin of milk income over feed cost. If nature is forgiving and highly digestible crops are chopped, the next daunting task at hand is fermenting, storing and feeding with a minimal loss of nutrients. Feeding high-quality forage makes more milk, but what does forage temperature have to do with several pounds more milk? We’ll take a look at two forage temperature measures – surface and core – to find the answer.

An analysis was made from 993 individual calves used in 20 trials published in two U.S. peer-reviewed journals. Results of this analysis were presented at the Joint Annual Meetings of ADSA and ASAS, held recently in Denver, Colorado. Each trial used Holstein calves that were initially 2 to 3 days old and on trial for eight weeks. All calves in these trials were housed and cared for individually in an unheated nursery in Ohio.