Yet another challenge to a common dairy practice recently crossed my desk. This time it is a proposal by the USDA under the Animal Welfare Act to regulate how newborn calves are treated from birth to about eight weeks old. Though only a proposed rule, it does suggest issuing a rule for limitations on the transporting, even the removal from the mother during some or all of that period. This would not be good for dairy farmers. It is not the first such challenge to dairy farming. It joins those that claim dairy farmers mistreat their cows, employ the wrong people, feed the wrong feed, give the wrong drugs, mishandle the waste, waste water and, to some, produce an unneeded product. More will come. How dairy farmers respond to those complaints will determine whether or not and the degree by which dairying survives in America.

You have most likely heard the expression that bigger isn’t always better. In my conversations, I find that many dairymen tend to disagree with that statement. Economies of scale spread over sound management have allowed producers over the past five years to not only expand their herd size, but also their productivity (see Chart 1). And despite efforts to keep cow numbers at bay, growth has continued among varying geographies and herd sizes.

One year ago in the May 2007 issue of Progressive Dairyman, I was asked to write an article on feed price direction. By using basic fundamental analysis, a dose of futuristic forward thinking and some technical analysis on historical price patterns in commodity markets, I forecasted that the next bull market would likely give us upper $6 to lower $7 corn prices. Well, $7 corn is here, and everyone is now wondering, “What’s next?”

How much genetic improvement do you make in the absence of a pregnancy? None. How much milk will be created without a pregnancy? None. How much money will a dairy make without milk? None.

High temperatures have adverse repercussions on herd health and productivity. Proper management and nutrition strategies are used to minimize the impact of heat stress in dairy cattle, reducing the associated economic losses.

With input costs on a continual rise, the words feed efficiency are the latest buzzwords. Feed efficiency has long been a cornerstone for the livestock industry, and dairy producers should help feed managers realize the value of the calculation to ensure each pound of feed is utilized properly by every cow. Here are some tips to accurately measure feed efficiency in your herd.

Heat detection always requires some degree of human intervention. This is because our only indication of estrus is the cow’s abnormal behavior.

As a holistic veterinarian, I am gratified that many of the trends affecting the dairy industry today appear to be moving the industry toward a more holistic approach to animal husbandry and away from some of the “factory farm” concepts that have gained popularity in the past few decades; high feed and energy costs are pushing the industry toward holistic. And, at the same time, consumer preferences with regard to animal welfare and food safety are pulling it in the same direction. I am under no illusion that these trends will force everyone to become organic certified.

Almost 100 dairy producers and industry representatives participated in the Minnesota Milk Producers’ second annual Summer Bus Tour, held in mid-June. The two-day tour covered five dairies in western Wisconsin and was sponsored in part by the University of Minnesota Extension.

Thirty years of standing over an air-hammer breaking out perfectly good dairy barn floors because the top eighth-of-an-inch on the surface is wrong gives someone a lot of time to think, “There has to be a better way!” Is it possible to install a floor texture to give livestock good traction without costing a lot of money, not creating problems with falls (too smooth) or hoof wear (too rough)? The answer is yes!