Feed & Nutrition

As herd production levels increase, the importance of managing feed hygiene (the bacterial, yeast and toxin loads in feeds) also increases. High-producing cows have an increased demand on their system to support milk production and are more susceptible to blips in feed hygiene.

Mastitis, an inflammation of the mammary gland, is one of the most consistently recorded and tracked clinical issues in commercial dairies.

Every dairy is unique, as are the producer’s goals. Feed is the largest expense for a dairy, but it also is the key factor to meeting performance goals. But with feed prices along with other inputs creeping up, it has been putting pressure on producers’ wallets.

The typical dairy operates in a constant state of need to control production costs. It’s a fact of life. Over the last few months (years now), we have seen increases in almost every on-farm cost. This is subsequently compounded by the supply chain difficulties everyone is dealing with.

In dairy cows, feed efficiency is the amount of milk produced per pound of dry matter consumed. In other words, it helps producers understand how efficiently their cows are transforming feed into milk.

On the modern dairy operation, feed costs are the highest input expense, making up 40% to 60% of all expenses.