Now is the time to think where changes can be made on the dairy to lessen the impacts of hot weather on dairy cows. Besides changing the cow’s environment to lessen the effects of heat stress, dairymen may also modify their feeding program in order to give their animals additional relief during hot weather. The main objective of feeding cows during heat stress should be to maximize feed intake.

Profitable dairies will pay attention to forage production and management this year, says nutritionist Aaron Naber. It’s one of three keys to profitability in 2007, he says, all dairy producers should remember. “The dairy producers that manage forages and have the ability to feed high-forage diets are generally at the top of the heap,” Naber says.

Clinical vitamin deficiency as characterized by classic deficiency symptoms is rare in well-managed dairy herds. Occasionally deficiency symptoms are noted in calves or growing heifers fed poor-quality diets. Of greater concern is the occurrence of sub-clinical vitamin deficiency where classic deficiency symptoms are not observed but where the normal functioning of body systems (i.e., immunity, reproduction, intermediary metabolism) is compromised by marginal vitamin status at the tissue level.

What do we feed a cow? Cows can make milk from grass. A cow can produce more milk when they are fed ingredients with more energy. Do cows produce more milk with feed additives? The basic ingredients of a ration fed to a cow are alfalfa, silage and corn grain. These ingredients together contribute fiber, protein, energy and calcium for the cow. Other feedstuffs can be added to better balance the ration, lower the feed cost and may produce more milk. Many of the feedstuffs are byproducts.

The understanding of protein nutrition in dairy cows has been something of a challenge for dairy scientists and researchers over the years. This is largely due to the fact that a cow is a ruminant which causes her to have two sets of protein requirements: one for the microbes in the rumen and the second for her general metabolism. Protein metabolism in a ruminant goes through a different process than that of mono-gastric species such as swine and poultry. A better understanding of protein nutrition in our dairy cows has become necessary in recent years to:

The brown water from my body has swirled down the drain along with the grime and oil from my matted hair. The stench from the sweat under my armpits has given way to the sweet smell of deodorant. My teeth sparkle with fresh toothpaste, and the scarlet sunburn on my face has turned golden tan.

Antibiotic residues in milk and dairy beef are an important food safety issue. Dairy owners, managers and employees play a major role in food safety and in shaping consumers’ perceptions about food. Antibiotics in milk and beef may cause severe allergic reactions in persons with antibiotic sensitivity. In the dairy processing plant, antibiotics in milk can interfere with cheese and yogurt production.

The goals of a dairy replacement management program are to rear heifers at a low economic and environmental cost without compromising future lactation performance. To meet these objectives, bred heifers are commonly fed diets containing low-cost, high-fiber forages which meet the low energy requirement of bred replacement heifers. Feeding bred heifers low-energy, high-fiber forages also helps minimize overconditioning at calving, which can be detrimental to lactation performance.

Raising replacement heifers is often looked upon as a major cost on the farm without a return on the investment until the animal begins its first lactation. As a result, heifers are often fed the cheapest feed available with minimum inputs on facilities and labor until they approach the time of calving. Efforts to improve management and nutrition of the dairy replacement heifer, in order to decrease the age at first calving, have been labeled as an “accelerated heifer growth program.”

Replacements are an investment in the future of a dairy, and they are significant, often representing 15 to 20 percent of the total cost of milk production, which is second only to dairy feed costs. The likelihood of a positive payoff on those investments is dramatically improved when the management team has a system in place that generates quality heifers.