It’s never difficult to spot a healthy, content cow. She’s the one chewing her cud after eating comfortably at the feedbunk. For generations, dairy producers, veterinarians and nutritionists have relied on the visual observation of rumination as a monitor of dairy cow health. There’s good reason for this. Rumination is needed for further chewing of hastily eaten food at the feedbunk and for the constant buffering of rumen content. Inadequate rumination will lead to reduced ration digestibility and, consequently, reduced profitability.