Heat stress is both a cow health and an economic issue wherever dairies exist in North America.

Heat stress can cost dairy producers big bucks, especially during the summer months.

Every summer, farmers prepare their dairy facilities for the negative effects of heat stress to avoid losses in milk production, feed intake and reproductive performance.

One of the most significant environmental challenges dairy farmers face each year is dealing with the summer heat and humidity and its affect on cows and milk production.

There was a time when the best way to observe cow behavior was to pull up a chair, take up residence in the barn and watch the cows.

Dairy cows perform much like world-class athletes, exerting high levels of energy for daily maintenance and to maintain high levels of production, says Dr. Joe West, University of Georgia dairy scientist.

Balancing amino acids in dairy rations to enhance protein efficiency is similar to the ideal protein concept used by poultry and swine nutritionists for many years.

With all of the talk about biofuels, and with oil prices reaching an all-time high, crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat have skyrocketed – in demand, production and price.

On Memorial Day, we took our children to the cemetery to place flowers of the graves of our ancestors and to remember.As we wove in and out among the headstones, we noticed many faded flags waving among the new flags placed on the graves of veterans.

When reducing heat stress in dairy herds, fans are used to enhance the evaporation of moisture from a cow’s back.