Facility design

By Barry Visser
Dairy cattle behavior and appearance often make it easy to detect external parasites like flies, mange and lice. Severe internal parasite infiltrations can result in roughness of hair coat, anemia, edema and diarrhea. However, the subclinical impact of internal parasites is largely hidden, yet costly. According to a recent study at Iowa State University , undetected subclinical disease caused by internal parasites can cost $190 per animal.

By Ann Hoskins
The best way to save on calf starter without sacrificing growth and performance is to limit waste. These seven steps can help you save money on calf starter.

More than 330 dairy producers, Vita Plus consultants and industry peers came together December 6 and 7 for Vita Plus Dairy Summit 2017 in Madison, Wisconsin. Follow the links in this post to access full event coverage, including speakers' PowerPoint presentations, articles, videos and more.

By Stacy Nichols
A fresh cow pen should provide cows with a clean, comfortable environment to recover from calving and minimize the social stress they experience when being moved into new groups. The primary goal of a fresh group must be to minimize health events to allow cows to reach their production potential.

By Dr. Noah Litherland
Maintaining nutrient intake balance and respiratory health can be a challenge during the first quarter of the calendar year. Increased ambient temperature during the day, increased humidity, and cooler nights have clear impacts on heifer intake and health.

By Dr. Laurie Winkelman
In Part 1 of this article series, we discussed the details involved in good forage and feeding management to help prevent lost dollars. This second article will focus on the details of cow comfort and reproductive management to help boost your farm’s bottom line regardless of the milk markets.

By Randall Greenfield
Walls or no walls? This question inevitably comes up when considering storage options for ensiled forages and grains. The answer, of course, is always “it depends.” For any specific situation, the ultimate solution could be different than the next. For the purpose of this article, however, I’ll make some generic comparisons.