Lyle Kruse, vice president of U.S. market development for Select Sires, Inc., discusses the Select Detect mobile app with Progressive Dairyman. Kruse details information about the app, including why it was developed, how it works and why it's an important tool.

TRENDING TOPIC ARTICLE: A.I. & BREEDING In this article, Michigan State University’s J. Richard Pursley explains how a simple adjustment of cycle days in a presynch/ovsynch program could have a dramatic effect on a herd’s fertility and a producer’s bottom line. to jump to the article.

Ultrasound is being used on an increasing number of dairy cattle around the U.S. It is most often thought of as a means of early pregnancy diagnosis or, more importantly, early “open cow” diagnosis. It is a superior tool at doing so.

It’s been noted over and over. Good heifer reproductive performance is essential to overall herd performance and profitability. That’s because successful dairies have quality replacements entering the herd on time and at minimal cost. Plus, heifer reproductive performance can act as a signal to indicate the general function of total herd reproduction.

No concept has been talked about more in the dairy cattle breeding world over the past few years than “genomics.” This compelling science has resurfaced a global intrigue for genetics. It is a very compelling science and has made genetics as popular of a topic as it was following the advent of artificial insemination. But why is genomics such a big deal? Because it really works.

Getting calves off to a great start means paying attention to all the little details or “sweating the small stuff.” The young ones seem especially sensitive to changes in management, diet and even weather. The results of lapses in management largely depend on the age of the calf and its surroundings. Early in life, management problems usually manifest themselves as diarrhea whereas, after weaning, respiratory problems are more typical. The common thread that ties together management issues, pathogen exposure and incidence of disease is the animal’s immune response. Healthy, properly fed and well-managed calves maintain strong immunity; thus, when they’re exposed to a potentially disease-causing pathogen, their immune system is strong and robust.

Although easy to remember, the 4-4-4 rule in colostrum management is often difficult to put into practice. This rule states that the cow should be milked the first four hours after calving and that the calf should be provided with 4 quarts of high-antibody colostrum within four hours after birth. Scientific explanations backing up that rule are quite simple: 1. Immunoglobulins G (IgG) present in high amounts in mammals’ blood are transferred into the colostrum during its production. However, the concentration of IgG in colostrum varies enormously from animal to animal and also depends on colostrum milking time and on water dilution effects.

Dairy producers battle daily with the devastating performance and economic effects of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in their herds. According to the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS), respiratory disease (commonly known as pneumonia) is the most important disease in calves older than 30 days. It results in an average loss of $15 per calf per year. While the battle continues, dairy producers have made significant improvements in respiratory disease management. Following the 2007 NAHMS survey, we polled dairy producers from 23 states about respiratory calf care. The survey represented more than 775,000 calves from 174 operations.