Dairy Performance

By Peter Coyne Many people who work with cows on a daily basis have a solid understanding of cow behavior.  Cows are fairly predictable. What about the people you work with? Today, dairies of all sizes depend on teams of people who work together to accomplish the tasks necessary to make the farm profitable.  Unquestionably,

By Kevin Caspersen and John Brantsen In previous Dairy Performance articles, we’ve discussed the importance of testing for and monitoring subclinical ketosis in dairy cows.  We’ve often highlighted the Precision Xtra® blood meter as a simple cowside tool for evaluating ketosis.  But is it really that simple?  We conducted an on-farm survey last year to

By Gary Sipiorski Every expense on a dairy farm has an impact on the cash flow.  Those that remember the 16-percent interest rates of the 1980s have bad memories of how high interest rates can derail a checkbook. The question is:  “Are we on the interest rate edge of the 80s again?”  When deciding to

By Dr. Laurie Winkelman Like a slow leak from a car tire that eventually turns into a flat, subclinical ketosis and milk fever can slowly drain profits from your dairy. Cows with subclinical ketosis or milk fever will appear completely normal, floating under the radar of common detection tools and treatments.  Making real changes to

By Dr. Eric Schwab Here’s a question for you:  When you’re feeding high-producing dairy cattle, do you want to feed the rumen bugs or the wildlife? If you’re an avid hunter in search of big bucks or long-bearded turkeys, the latter might not sound so bad.  But when corn prices hover around $6 per bushel,

By Ann Hoskins When it comes to our crops, this summer has been a crazy growing season with lots of ups and downs.  In contrast, it’s been a steady and great growing season for the bugs on our dairy farms and calf operations.  Many farms struggled with flies and pathogenic pests this year. As we

By Jon Rasmussen With harvest just around the corner, you’re planning how you will put up the best quality forages possible.  That quality will translate to milk production throughout the upcoming year. When you invest a significant amount of time and money into your forages, you want to make sure you maintain quality in every

By Jon Urness Shredlage™, Shredlage and more Shredlage.  When it comes to the latest technology in corn silage processing, Shredlage has dominated the headlines of the farm papers, been the focus of producer meetings, and become a hot topic among dairy producers and custom harvesters alike – and for good reason. This new approach to

By Gary Sipiorski The real estate market has continued to see escalating agricultural land prices.  Many reasons have led to higher dollar sales, including grain producers who have seen a number of very profitable years and now have strong cash reserves.  Low interest rates and dairy producers seeking land for nutrient management have also been

By Ann Hoskins With this summer's slow start, it might have been easy to push off fly control for another week.  But it's June and that means you need to have your strategy in place.  Having an established plan can save you lots of time and energy this summer. According to research from Purdue University,

By Chris Wacek-Driver The past year’s weather has presented challenges in some areas as we look to this season’s forage crops.  To create the best-fit forage plan for your farm, make sure you have a good handle on the extent of winterkill in your fields and your forage needs for the upcoming months as well

By Dr. Eric Schwab In our never-ending quest to improve economic returns and efficiencies, we’re always looking at how we can include cost-effective feed ingredients in the diet without sacrificing production.  A recent meta-analysis published in the Journal of Dairy Science shows that canola meal can fill that niche. The analysis looked at 88 diets

By Jon Wilcox A family with energetic boys raised cattle on a hobby farm. A well-intentioned neighbor, with decades of experience in cattle production, was critical of the “results” he saw and often shared his wisdom. One evening, as the neighbor was chastising the father, the mother finally stepped in and said, “You don’t seem