The sex sorting of semen is a relatively new technology that has been commercially available to U.S. dairy producers since early 2006. The process of sorting semen by gender was developed in the late 1980s and has improved significantly over time. Today, most sexed semen is sorted so that 85 to 90 percent of the offspring are of the desired gender.

Sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA) is described as a digestive disorder where the pH of the ruminal contents is between 5.5 and 5.8. Historical estimates indicate it costs the dairy industry in North America between $500 million and $1 billion per year. A decrease in rumen pH from the normal range of 6.0 to 6.4 may be attributed to many factors. Some potential causes include: • Quick diet changes from a lower to a higher concentrate ration • Overmixing the TMR • High DCAD diets • Diet sorting and errors in nutrient content of feeds.

Texas A&M's Ralph Bruno explained the causes and symptoms of the metabolic disease ketosis in this 2011 article. to jump to the article. Because this Herd Health article has been so popular, we asked Bruno a follow-up question: Q: What is the most often overlooked way of preventing or reducing the risk of ketosis? Ketosis is a metabolic disease very often observed in high producing herds. It is associated with poor management of the transition period resulting in decreased dry matter intake and increased BCS loss (fat mobilization) therefore, increasing blood circulating levels of ketone bodies.