Dairy Performance

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

By Jon Urness Spring harvesting of fall-seeded small grain grasses such as rye, triticale, and wheat as haylage has been popular in some areas of the country. Interest in this practice has spread in the Midwest as a source of forage for replacements and the opportunity to maximum forage yield by double-cropping in combination with

By Chris Wacek-Driver As March begins and we’re optimistic that the snow will soon melt, we’re looking forward to spring and summer and being back in the fields.  That includes putting together our forage plans.  But is everyone on the same page?  If we aren’t now, we surely won’t be come harvest season. Let’s fast-forward

By Dr. Laurie Winkelman Calves are born into this world without immunity or the ability to fight off pathogens and infections.  Unlike humans, the cow’s placenta does not allow antibodies to transfer from cow to calf.  High quality colostrum is the only way to prepare these newborns for the rest of their lives. The benefits