The price of corn has increased 45 percent from 2005 to 2006. Corn grain is fed as a major energy source in lactating rations. How can one maintain the proper energy levels to continue one’s current milk production?

Distillers grains with solubles (DG) is a unique feedstuff providing protein, fat, highly digestible fiber and minerals, all of which can be utilized in dairy rations. Distillers grains with solubles are coproducts from the manufacture of ethanol. Although other cereal grains, such as sorghum, wheat or barley, can be used to produce ethanol, the predominant cereal grain used in the United States to produce ethanol is corn (Zea mays).

Remember when gas prices approached $3.50 a gallon? It had a tremendous impact on our economy. Hybrid vehicles were on back order, and dealers were practically giving away SUVs. Despite the high prices, we still went to the pumps and filled up our tanks. Why? Because we needed the fuel to run our cars and trucks, and operate our businesses.

You just hired the best nutritionist, purchased a new mixer wagon and payloader and your recent college graduate daughter has come home to run the feeding program, but as far as you can tell things are going downhill fast! What’s up? During these times it’s important to realize there are three rations on the dairy farm:

Lately I feel the need to laugh! My life is a tangled web of one problem after another. I worry about the stupidity of politics. I worry about the war! I worry about the kids, I worry about the educational system, I worry about the housework and the price of gasoline. There is so much to worry about; I feel overwhelmed.

Sammi is one of those children for which parents have great expectations but a healthy dose of apprehension. In other words, her self-confidence was bound to get her into trouble now and then. As a 13-year-old ranch kid, she could rope and ride, do the chores, cook, read, shoot and take care of herself like most kids reared up in a country raisin’.

Lameness is an important disorder affecting dairy cows in the U.S., not only for economic reasons, but also from an animal welfare point of view. Prevalence of lameness in the U.S. has increased in recent years. We conducted a field study in 50 Minnesota dairy herds (and 5,626 Holstein cows) and found the average prevalence of lameness in those herds was 24.6 percent. Lameness status was evaluated by using a 1-to-5 scale locomotion scoring system, with cows scoring 3 or greater considered lame. Our goal in this study was to collect a lot of information from these herds to evaluate what could be potential risk factors for lameness. Farms were randomly selected, without any previous knowledge of lameness status of the herd and without any enrollment criteria besides cows being housed in freestalls. In a field study, we are looking at a whole system in the “real world.” Data of this kind are needed in order to better understand dairy systems, but they can be difficult to interpret.

If you find yourself reading the title of this [article] twice, wondering what “space” has to do with the diet of a dairy cow, you are not alone. Nutritionists and producers regularly discuss terms like pounds of dry matter intake (DMI) or percent protein or how many megacalories of energy or grams of calcium or what is the ratio of calcium-to-phosphorus. None of these discussions even comes close to mentioning space as an important consideration when planning or troubleshooting a milking cow’s diet.

The effects of heat stress on animal production are well known and have been investigated and documented for a number of years. It is commonly accepted that a temperature humidity index (THI) greater than or equal to 72 creates a stressful environment for lactating dairy cattle. The basic thermoregulatory strategy of a dairy cow is to maintain a core body temperature higher than ambient temperature to allow heat to flow out from the core via four basic routes of heat exchange (conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation).

The basic premise used by all nutritionists when formulating rations is that each mouthful of the diet is balanced with respect to the known nutrient requirement of the target animal. The diet must contain the necessary nutrients to support maintenance, growth, production and health. Feed additives should be present to provide the appropriate level of protection from disease and other maladies. In all cases, the levels must be controlled so as to be neither deficient nor toxic.