Management
How Important is Pre-Weaning Nutrition for a Successful Milking Career?
We all know colostrum and pre-weaning nutrition is important for calf vitality, but how much does it impact a cow’s long-term milking career? Here we explore recent research to find...
Simon Vander Woude:One Man’s Experience with Beef on Dairy
Vander Woude Dairy is based at Merced, California, and for the last seven years they have been using beef semen on part of their Holstein herd. Owner Simon Vander Woude...
She Really Milks: A Problem… Or An Opportunity?
It’s time to dry cow #374, a Supershot daughter that’s still milking 88lb (40kg). But, it feels wrong. Why? For generations, we have carefully coordinated the breeding program to enhance...
Jared Martin, Triple-Hil Sires: ‘Longevity is the long-range vision we are promoting’
It started as a boyhood dream. Cousins Lowell and Jared Martin went to school and church together, and regularly shared ideas about their passion of cows and breeding. They often...
Beef-on-Dairy: The Crucial Choices of Semen Quality through to Product Guarantee
Beef-on-Dairy, the use of beef sires on (part) of the dairy herd, is a global phenomenon. In North America, Beef-on-Dairy has been the most significant development during the past five...
Micronutrients - The Right Combination is Decisive for Success
The idea of writing about micronutrients in our management series is not something that came on a whim. The current discussion about climate change and increasing the efficiency of feed...
Milk Cooling: Maintaining Milk Quality as Efficiently as Possible
This month our management series looks at different equipment now available for the on-farm handling of milk. Under many circumstances, the chilling of milk before it enters the milk tank...
Selecting for Feed Efficiency: Economic Savings and Reduced Green-House Gas Emissions
The industry is on the cusp of a new revolution in dairy cattle breeding – the selection for feed conversion efficiency. While this trait has been prominent in poultry and...
What Does The Ideal Dairy Cow Look Like?
One judge, one vet, one classifier and one breeder help us understand what their ideal cow looks like, and the problems the breed needs to overcome to achieve the ideal...
Bles Dairies: Travel Through the Unique World of Entrepreneur Henk Bles
A keen eye for development in the dairy industry: That is one of the most prominent core qualities of the Dutch company Bles Dairies. With lots of passion and driven...
Preventing Problems with Milk Fever Anionic salts during dry period offer benefits
Clinical and subclinical milk fever are very costly. They incur not only direct economic losses, but also open the “door” to other illnesses. Health and fertility problems increase and longevity...
Longevity: What is the Basis behind Expected Lifetime Predictions?
Progressively, more and more breeders are paying attention to management traits. The reason is the impact they have on farm profitability. Chief among these traits is longevity: If an animal...