Dairy Science Digest

DSD 4.3 | Financial thresholds of successful dairies in NY

The dairy industry is capital intensive. Maintaining strong relationships with your lender, based on YOUR farm’s financial data, will help navigate through all the different market conditions. Specifically, using financial thresholds and benchmarking against similar farms will help your farm’s financial resiliency over time.  
This month Dr. Chris Wolf joins us from Cornell to discuss the article is titled, “Financial risk and resiliency on US dairy farms: Measures, thresholds, and management implications”. Listen in to this deep dive into the metrics the Cornell dairy team used to benchmark over a 10-year period.
Additionally, we discuss the recent Silicon Valley bale out and if we should expect it to have any impact on Ag Lending. Understanding these key financial thresholds is an effective management tool for successful herds throughout New York, listen in to see what they can do for your farm!
#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY; #benchmark; #FINBIN; #CornellBusinessSummary; #financialresiliency

DSD 4.2 | How to anticipate colostrum changes

Colostrum: the liquid gold of life for newborn dairy calves. While it’s fairly universally understood how important colostrum is, we occasionally encounter the bizarre situation when a cow comes in with very little or no colostrum. Then, shortly later another cow comes in and nearly overflows the bucket. This situation intrigued researchers out of New York to closely study 19 Holstein herds in attempt to find associations of management to colostrum yield and quantity.
Listen in to Trent Westhoff from Cornell as he discusses the recently published article titled, "Epidemiology of bovine colostrum production in New York Holsteinherds: Cow, management, and environmental factors". You'll learn about the all the associations that can impact colostrum quantity and quality such as barn lighting, dry period management, parity and more. 
By anticipating these colostrum inventories you'll ultimately become a better manager of your newborn calves - Listen in!
 
To read the full Open access JDS article: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(22)00750-0/pdf
#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY

DSD 4.1 | Fueling the appetite of your herd

A good rule of thumb many nutritionists work by; when the cow increases intake - every 1 pound of feed increase will result in 2.5 additional pounds of milk. Capturing this “marginal milk” helps increase profits for dairy producers who are already covering all the fixed costs of the herd. For years, Dr. Mike Allen and others have studied the mechanisms that control intake so we can learn how to tweak our diet to maximize intake.
This month Dr. Barry Bradford joins us from Michigan State University to discuss the article is titled, “Fueling Appetite: Nutrient metabolism and the control of feed intake”. Listen in to this symposium review on this important topic to learn how we can manipulate the ration ingredients, or fuel source, to help increase her drive to eat and prevent negative feedback.
Understanding these mechanisms can help us better read and manage the herd’s needs through all phases of production and capture these profit margin opportunities.  
 
#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY
 

DSD 3.12 | One minute delay is costing you

On-farm data mining from your parlor equipment could help you identify bimodality in your herd. Bimodality refers to delayed milk ejection during the early phase of the milking. Previous research and repeated work by M. Wieland’s team has shown that a delay in milk let down can result in a significant loss of milk. Equipped with this information our guest this month, Dr. Matthias Wieland, would take a sophisticated tool on farms to test parlor efficiency and effectiveness in milkout.
One trip he wondered – Could we reliability use parlor equipment to make similar assessments? This month we learn the answer to that question highlighted in the featured article, “Comparison of 2 types of milk flow meters for detecting bimodality in dairy cows”.
Listen in to learn more about the negative impacts of bimodality in your herd, what parlor equipment can do to help and ultimately how to motivate the parlor staff to break the cycle of bimodality. A little attention on this low hanging fruit could make a big impact in your bottomline - your software may be collecting all the information needed to manage through bimodality.  
For more information visit:
Quality milk production services (QMPS)https://www.vet.cornell.edu/animal-health-diagnostic-center/programs/quality-milk-production
Other Recently published, relevant articles from Wieland Risk factors for delayed milk ejection in Holstein dairy cows milked 3 times per day, Wieland et al. Journal of Dairy Science June 27, 2022
The effect of 2 different premilking stimulation regimens, with and without manual forestripping, on teat tissue condition and milking performance in Holstein dairy cows milked 3 times daily J. Dairy Sci. 2020
 
#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY
 

DSD 3.11 | Ultrasound assessment of pneumonia

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a costly concern primarily during the calf phase production. This is especially relevant to veal production, when young and venerable calves are commingled from many farms. However, BVD breakouts can also occur on calf ranches raising dairy x beef calves or even individual dairy farms.
This month Dr. Stan Jourquin joins us from Ghent University in Belgium to discuss his article is titled, “Dynamics of subclinical pneumonia in male dairy calves in relation to antimicrobial therapy and production outcomes”. Listen in to learn how pneumonia might be lurking in your herd without your knowledge.
Consider ways to use ultrasound as a tool to quickly and reliability assess animals upon receipt to allow for differential management. Overall losses, from chronically ill animals, could be decreased by warding off the spread of infection and promoting early cure. Once lungs are severely consolidated, these animals are 4.2x more likely to become chronic and experience -0.25 lbs average daily gain over this phase of production.
For more information visit:Open access Journal article: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(22)00644-0/fulltext  UC Davis BRD Clinical symptom scoring system: https://www.vmtrc.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk5141/files/local_resources/pdfs/BRD_ANR_Brochure_Nov%202016%20FINAL.PDF
 
 
#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY

DSD 3.10| Fetal programming effects of Choline

Fetal programming is an emerging topic. This month listen in to learn more about how feeding Choline to your transition pen could transform the metabolism and next generation of the herd. Researcher Dr. Tucker Swartz at the Michigan State University and his team in Bradford’s lab fed choline 24 days prior to freshening and measured the impact on the calf's success through the preweaning phase. These results are in press in the Journal of Dairy Science titled, “Effects of prenatal dietary rumen-protected choline supplementation during late gestation on calf growth, metabolism, and vaccine response.”
They found impacts in the energy metabolism and immune function. Listen in for more information on how this affordable addition holds a large ROI on this phase of production and more.
#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY

DSD 3.9| Turn methane from a liability into an asset

While it is a fairly unpopular topic among most dairymen, the carbon neutrality goal for 2050 has been declared by leaders of the dairy industry to ensure we are meeting the desires of consumers. This month Dr. Frank Mitloehner joins us from UC Davis to discuss his article is titled, “Defining a pathway to climate neutrality for US dairy cattle production”. Listen in to learn how this goal can become an asset to your balance sheet, through carbon credits on the open market.
We discuss the State of California and their relationship with their dairy industry as a case study. The ultimate result of an investment of public money has propelled CA dairy producers toward the goal of a 40% decrease in dairy methane by 2030. Revenues generated from the methane digesters result following the conversion of gas into a useable fuel for vehicles and the sale of carbon credits on the open market. Listen in to better understand the ideal size of operation, costs of install, annual assets and how to be part of the climate solution while cashflowing.  
Dr. Mitloehner can be found on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/GHGGuru and https://twitter.com/UCDavisCLEAR.
For more information visit:
https://clear.ucdavis.edu/news/climate-neutrality https://youtu.be/UOPrF8oyDYw and
#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY

DSD 3.8 | The high fertility cycle

This month Drs. Keith E. Latham and J. Richard Pursley join us from Michigan State University to discuss their research comparing cows that maintained body condition versus those who lost during the first month of lactation, and the impact that has on reproductive success.
Dairy producers are familiar with the struggles cows have when the transition period fails and cows thin down. Turns out these researchers identified part of the reproductive puzzle, a molecular change on the oocyte which potentially explains poor fertility for those who loose condition.
Listen in as Dr. Pursley describes the “High fertility cycle” your herd can experience when all the puzzle pieces fall in place. He’ll provide reproductive benchmarks to assess to ensure your herd avoids over conditioning and therefore improve reproductive performance in the following lactation.
This month’s feature article “Effects of early lactation body condition loss in dairy cows on serum lipid profiles and on oocyte and cumulus cell transcriptomes” is found here in the Journal of Dairy Science. For more information about Bovine Reproduction, visit the MSU Bovine Reproductive management website at: https://dairycattlereproduction.com/
 
#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY
 
Figure 6 - Referenced in the DSD 3.8

DSD 3.7 | Is She Settled?

How much would you value knowing that she’s bred earlier than convention? Canadian researcher Dr. Jean Durocher and his team at DHI was approached by dairy producers to determine the feasibility of weekly milk PAG testing all the way down to 23 days post insemination, potentially helping resync and rebreed her a week earlier.
The cost of days open can range from $3.00-$5.50/cow/day. Knowing her status sooner will assist in decreasing these costs.
This month’s feature article “Bayesian estimation of sensitivity and specificity of a milk pregnancy-associated glycoprotein ELISA test for pregnancy diagnosis between 23 and 27 days after insemination in Holstein dairy cows” found here.
 
#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY

DSD 3.6 | Not your Grandfathers Sorghum

This timely edition addresses questions about the feasibility of Forage Sorghum and Sorghum Sudangrass for your lactating herd. There have been numerous advances to these forages over time resulting in hybrids. Dr. Luis Ferraretto, from the University of Wisconsin, is featured for this June addition to discuss a retroactive study predicting dry matter intake, milk production, and production’s impact on intake using 11 years of sorghum plot data from Central FL.  
Listen in to better understand the effect of planting season and ways to navigate using these "improved” forages in your dairy’s program.
Could this forage fit and fill an opportunity to improve tonnage of home grown forage and in your operation? A carefully crafted TMR including forage sorghum could result to be a decreased reliance on purchased nutrients while maintaining your typical milk production levels.
The featured Journal of Dairy Science article titled: “Effects of season, variety type, and trait on dry matter yield, nutrient composition, and predicted intake and milk yield of whole-plant sorghum forage” is found at https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(22)00293-4/fulltext
#2xAg2030; #journalofdairyscience; @jdairyscience; #openaccess; #MODAIRY