The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced the second round of states coming on board as part of its National Milk Testing Strategy (NMTS) that was launched Dec. 6.

Fresh cows are more susceptible to disease than at any other point in their lactation, and this is traditionally attributed to a suppressed immune system around calving. 

In the news as we approach the middle of December, a federal committee upholds dairy dietary guidelines, dairy farmers are invited to apply for financial incentives to implement climate-smart practices, farm income falls $41 billion in two years, and the first HPAI-positive dairy case is found in Nevada.

The USDA issued a new federal order on Friday, Dec. 6, that requires raw (unpasteurized) milk samples nationwide be collected and shared with the USDA to test for the prevalence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1.

Here’s an update on news impacting your dairy as October 2024 comes to an end.

In the news this week, Colorado is mandating weekly bulk tank testing for HPAI in milk for all commercial dairy herds. More than 500 organizations call for action on the new farm bill and reports are released for dairy markets and beef-on-dairy.

Learn common pathogenic and nonpathogenic causes of late-term abortions and how dairy producers, their herd veterinarian and veterinary diagnostic laboratories can work together to help find the cause of late-term abortions.

Unfortunately, cows don’t have a dashboard with gauges to tell us which minerals they are low on. Minerals may be considered when things aren’t going well, but how do we know if minerals aren’t adequate? Liver biopsies allow us to check the actual status of the cow without assuming they are OK simply because minerals were offered in the feed. In that sense, liver biopsies are the gauge to tell us how the cow is doing.