Dairy Science Digest

The A2 protein variant was identified back in the 60s as a genetic difference among cattle. Recent consumer interest has driven a demand for A2/A2 milk, resulting in increased prevalence in the dairy industry. Acknowledging the importance of protein in cheese production, food scientists have worked with cheese makers to both identify and reduce the impact of A2 on cheese yield.

Beyond yield impacts, Dr. Ibanez and his team of resea...

The trajectory of the success for a dairy cow begins with mammary development, long before lactation begins.  Dr. Benjamin Enger, Associate Professor for The Ohio State University in Wooster, has worked with his team for years to best understand how infection can change the development and if the timing of infection impacts that response.

He was specifically interested in Staphylococcus aureus (SA), a common contagious pathoge...

Embryo transfer has become increasingly popular on US dairy farms to rapidly advance the genetic profile of the herd. This month’s feature article looks at the associations between fertility traits on the success of embryo transfer.

Fertility traits such as daughter pregnancy rate (DPR), cow conception rate (CCR) and heifer conception rate (HCR) are consistently classified with low heritability. However, this retrospective st...

Sorghum costs less to plant and requires less water to generate productive tonnages. For years, sorghum has been ignored as a dairy forage, because the starch filled berry was nearly impossible to process, limiting the energy available to the cow. To combat this issue a male sterile bmr dwarf variety was developed with no grain head as an opportunity to harvest a nutrient dense, resilient leafy forage.

Researcher Juan Pineiro, Asso...

Seventy percent of the protein your herd uses for lactation is derived from the microbial population in her rumen. Researchers from UC Davis and Feedworks USA sought to learn more about how different substrates might impact rumen microbial efficiency. They did this with the ultimate goal of increasing the flow of protein available for absorption to help offset feed costs, recognizing protein is the highest cost of the ration, and l...

DSD 6.12 | Brachytic corn for increased production

The brachytic gene mutation results in corn that is shorter in stature but an improved digestibility profile. Through a reduction in intranode distance, the corn plant reduces indigestible fiber. Dr. Antonio Gallo, PhD ruminant nutritionist from Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and his team in Italy recently studied the impact of this gene mutation on the productivity of the da...

DSD 6.11 | The sweet spot - Insemination timing for peak profit

With changes in the marketplace, coupled with increased reproductive performance of your herd there is an increased opportunity to improve net return. While breeding beef and sexed semen is no longer new, our industry has experienced a miscalculation of the ideal number of replacement heifers needed to optimize this model.

To ensure you’re on the right path, Mega...

DSD 6.11 | The sweet spot - Insemination timing for peak profit

With changes in the marketplace, coupled with increased reproductive performance of your herd there is an increased opportunity to improve net return. While breeding beef and sexed semen is no longer new, our industry has experienced a miscalculation of the ideal number of replacement heifers needed to optimize this model.

To ensure you’re on the right path, Mega...

Individual housing for pre-weaned calves has long been gold standard, since it was first introduced in the 40s. However, interest has emerged around paired and group housing for this phase of production. Intermittent research on this topic has been published over the past 25 years but has never been compiled, until now. Dr. Katarina Buckova from IA State University, and her team combed through research databases and compiled the ...

DSD 6.9 | Surplus calves are a perishable commodity

This robust beef market is having a direct impact on the bottom line of dairy calf buyers and possesses the ability to radically impact dairymen’s bottom line long term through low all milk prices. This month we talk to researcher Dr. Sam Locke from The Ohio State University about a survey launched to help better understand the workings of the current calf buyers, jockeys an...

DSD 6.8 | That is where you should put your money

For years researchers have sought out to better understand control mechanisms for a successful transition into lactation from the dry period. We’ve learned changing body condition score during the dry period is not acceptable, but what if it changes during late lactation?  How does this impact energy partitioning for the next lactation?

Well managed high producing cows wi...

It’s always exciting to watch a group of replacement heifers develop and anticipate their performance in the milking string as the top genetics of your herd. There is just about nothing more devastating than freshening them in to find mastitis or even worse, a blind quarter. When a first calf heifer calves in with a high somatic cell count she is more likely to maintain the high count, and more likely to be culled.

Heifer mas...

DSD 6.6 | How much variability is allowable?

Timing of insemination is still one of the most common question Dr. Paul Fricke, Extension faculty for the University of Wisconsin, gets from farmers. This month he and coauthors Vanda Santos and Paulo Carvalho  discuss the ideal timing of insemination when using popular artificial insemination protocols and when producers use estrus detection devices.

Additionally, how does this c...

For decades, ethanol production has generated affordable biproducts to feed. A new distilling method has generated a product with ~50% protein. Dr. Billy Brown, assistant professor of dairy science at Kansas State, wanted to understand how this feed would compare to soybean meal in a starter grain.

To test this he developed rations substituting soybean meal 1:1. Graduate student Rachel Skinner measured intake, growth, effiency and ...

Most dairy farms are trying to push the envelope from the conventional 4L of milk replacer per day to a higher volume to support lean structural growth of replacement heifers. Concerns of ruminal leakage resulting in fermentation has been cited as a concern, but is that based on an incomplete picture?  We know microbial protein offers a nearly perfect alignment of amino acid requirements for the bovine, however nutrition progr...

DSD 6.3 | Big Picture Management Decisions Matter

Timeless dairy management decisions, such as voluntary waiting period & days dry, have recently been the topic of interest across the globe. Scrutiny to illuminate the ideal to maximize productive life has left the industry questioning convention.  

Michael Overton, DVM at Zoetis worked with co-author Steve Eicker to tease out the answers to these questions from a a massiv...

Colostrum, the life-giving liquid-gold first milk that builds the calves’ immune function. The dairy industry has made amazing strides on colostrum management, however we’ll always have a small number of cows that come in with enough colostrum, just moderate quality. What can we do to enhance the colostrum to ensure the calf’s success?

Dr. Sandra Godden, from the University of MN Vet Med, and her team of researche...

DSD 6.1 | Management to create the invisible cow

If you pause and think about a list of cows –  chances are the list that pops into mind is a group of troublemakers that didn’t breed back or need another round of treatment or are on this week’s cull list. What if you could create a herd of unmemorable cows – ones who just do their job; make milk, breed back, no mastitis – the "Invisible Cow". D...

Ever heard the adage, “It takes money to make money”? Well, the research highlighted this month shows that it also takes time, to make time. Dr. Zelmar Rodriguez discusses the importance of parlor training and how to make your on farm training as effective as possible. The featured article summarizes results of pre- and post-training assessments he and his team at MI State Vet Med recently completed.

Listen in to be mot...