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Too often, farm kids return home to the farm because they’ve been told there is always a place for them. However, this can create a sense of entitlement. They feel they are entitled to a spot on the farm instead of feeling humbled by the experience and driven to earn their keep.
When identifying milk quality issues, a standard plate count (SPC) test isn’t enough. Elevated SPC could indicate dirty equipment, poor cooling, contaminants from the environment or a variety of other issues.
As I was standing in the headlocks of the hospital barn, holding an IV bottle in my hand while it was draining, I remember staring at the treatment cart with four more IVs to give.
The definition of “high milk quality” and standards for acceptable udder heath are continuously becoming more rigorous, and dairy producers who wish to remain competitive must meet or exceed these evolving standards.
Making it to the top in the ultra-competitive world of Holstein genomics is a tough game. Do it once, and they might call you lucky. But rank among the best year after year? That’s another thing altogether.
There’s no other dairy farm in the world exactly like yours. So it should be logical that no single standard genetic index will fit the goals of all dairy producers.
Genetic selection is not a quick fix for reducing occurrences of prevalent diseases facing today’s dairymen. Nevertheless, it demands to be a part of the discussion. Genetic selection should be viewed as an investment in the herd for the long term because compounding effects over generations are realized only with time.
If you feed dairy cows, at some point, in some way, you will deal with the negative effects of mycotoxins on animal health and performance. The challenge often lies with the degree, since symptoms of mycotoxin contamination are wide-ranging, often nonspecific and may be seemingly unrelated.
Genetic theories are complicated. Choosing a package of genetics to create more profitable cows doesn’t need to be. The dairy genetics industry has done a nice job creating an overwhelming number of traits from which dairy producers can select. In fact, there are over 70 selection traits. Nobody has time for that.
Today, there are many tools a dairy producer can use to influence the rate of genetic change and have lasting effects on the performance of their herd. Over the last decade, the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) has steadily increased.
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