Here are worthwhile topics to discuss with dairy producers during National Dairy Month. Veterinarians and direct-to-dairy representatives often find a third-party article opens the door to discussions beyond normal dialogues and details. The pandemic has taught us the importance of educational communications. Share these in person, on social media or in newsletters.
Source: Detecting transition cow problems, Dairy Herd Management, June 8, 2020. Link.
Summer brings known effects of heat stress on cows. It is worth tracking certain metrics to make sure fresh cows are performing adequately. Overall production problems can usually be traced back to the dry/transition period.
Source: Milk fever protocols, Dairy Herd Management, June 20, 2019. Link. Taylor Leach shares information on the three stages of milk fever.
Source: Tips to manage dry cows, Dairy Herd Management, May 5, 2020. Link.
Source: Strategies for early cow dry off, Dairy Business, May 29, 2020. Link. Management practices to reduce milk production of high producing cows at dry off will reduce the risk of dry period mastitis.
Source: How concerned should we be about inbreeding? Dairy Business, May 29, 2020. Link. H. Duane Norman discusses how breeding the best to the best helped dairy grow and shares why inbreeding needs to be done with caution.
Source: More sperm isn’t always better, Dairy Herd Management, June 3, 2020. Link. Resist nonsensical advertising focused on some magic number of sperm per dose for all bulls. More sperm is not always better.