Dairy Science Digest

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.  
 
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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
 
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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
 
 
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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.
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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
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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/
 
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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.
 
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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
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DSD 3.5 | Modeling biometrics benchmarks for a successful transition cow management

The transition period has been investigated for nearly 4 decades. Over this time, much has changed in dairy industry including herd management and genetics. Dr. Kerwin, from Cornell, joins us today to discuss the robust observational project documenting the management of 72 successful herds in NY and VT. The project involved tracking the same cohort of cows on each farm for 11 weeks to capture the far off, close up, fresh and peak lactation cow over time.
Part 1 of the paper focuses on the management of the herds within the existing farm infrastructure. These topics including grouping dynamics, fresh cow checks and stocking density and how these parameters impact biomarkers (NEFA, βHB and haptoglobin).
Beginning at 20:44, she discusses how the biomarkers effect the health, production and reproductive success of the herd. Their model identified an association between the biomarkers and production, negative health disorders, and reproduction (25:13).
Don't miss this foundational herd biomarker benchmarking paper for understanding your transition pen goals - Listen in now! **apologies for the sound quality due to poor internet connectivity** Next episode will be better!
HERD ALARM LEVELS: (multi= mature cows, primi = first calf heifers, Pre=Prepartum, post=postpartum) PRE NEFA: when >30% multip cows sampled are >0.17 mmol/L = 6% increase disease               21d PR:    >15% multi – 6% decrease 21d PR                               > 40% primi – 3.9% decrease 21d PR
POST NEFA: >0.59mmol/L                         > 15% Multi: 5.8%               > 15% Primi: 4.2% increase in disorder
Post NEFA 305ME Milk –               Multi: >30% = >0.48 mmol/L decreased milk 1735lbs               Primi – Not Significant  
POST BHB: >15% @ >1.2mmol/L               8.5% increase disorder               305ME Milk: >0.9mmol/L                             Multi: >10% +229kg                             Primi: >20%  +332kg               21d PR: >15%, >0.9 mmol/L                              3.2% decrease               Prob of Preg - 5.2% decrease               PRFS – 7.0 % decrease
POST HAPLOGOBIN: >20%, >0.45g/L = 5.3% increase in disorder incidence
Two companion articles were featured. These are found at:Part 1: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(22)00243-0/pdf Part 2: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(22)00244-2/pdf  
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DSD 3.4 | Under the hood

The final frontier for ruminant nutritionists - understanding all the intricacies and nuances of the microorganisms in the rumen. We know the rumen is adaptable and must anticipate these changes to better manage our herd. This month we talk with Dr. Mary Beth Hall, US Dairy Forage Research center, who investigated the relationship of non-fibrous carbohydrates and rumen degradable protein in the rumen and on production.
In 2022, we anticipate nutritionists will try out a variety of different energy sources throughout 2022, due to the challenging commodity markets. The research team specifically looked at feeding different rates of molasses (sugar) or ground corn (starch) when in the presence or absence of rumen degradable protein. She describes the results when her team  ‘looked under the hood’.
Listen in for this timely understanding of what to expect when shifting from a starch to a sugar and how to best manage ‘under the hood’ to keep your herd running smoothly.
Two companion articles were featured. These are found at: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(22)00187-4/fulltexthttps://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(22)00186-2/fulltext    
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