Are you overfeeding your lactating cows? Victor Cabrera says if you are feeding all your cows the same ration, that is likely the case. Cabrera is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin Dairy Science Department and a dairy management extension specialist for UW-Extension. He presented a session on grouping strategies at the Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference held June 13 in Dubuque, Iowa.

What do cell phones, iPods and heat detection have in common? The same technology that changes the screen on your iPod or Smart Phone when you move your phone from horizontal to vertical is the same technology helping to detect heat in dairy cattle. That technology is known as the accelerometer and it is the most recent electronic system to be marketed to dairy farmers for the purpose of monitoring physical activity with estrous behavior.

It’s no secret that corn supplies will be low this year – and tensions are running high on what to do about it. Numerous organizations have signed on to a petition presented to EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson asking for a waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) to reduce the ethanol industry’s demand for corn and, therefore, increase the amount of corn available to the farmers and livestock who need it.

A recent study at the University of Wisconsin Arlington Research Station shows that snaplage can be a viable way to feed dairy herds – but its effect on milk depends on how it is fed. The feeding trial compared diets with snaplage, high-moisture shelled corn (HMSC) or two-thirds snaplage plus one-third dry corn treatments. Sixty cows were included in this study.

More than 425 nutritionists and dairy industry professionals gathered in Dubuque, Iowa, June 13 and 14 for the Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference. The program planning committee consisted of dairy extension faculty from Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the intention of the conference was to provide timely research information for dairy industry professionals.