Feed & Nutrition

People's eating behaviors have changed in the last decades. We spend more time at the supermarket choosing healthy products and reading food labels carefully. One of the characteristics we pay more attention to is fat quantity and quality. This is mainly because we link polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs, especially omega-3) with a healthy diet.

Is fiber important in human nutrition? Ask anyone. Ask the internet. Ask your doctor. But then follow this up with a simple question: What exactly is it? Hmmm.

In the weeks leading up to calving and the early postpartum period, various behavioral, metabolic and physiological challenges are imposed on the dairy cow.

Often, when I visit a farm to troubleshoot an incident of poor transition cow performance, I hear the comment, “Things had been going so well until now. What might have changed with my anionic supplement?”

The transition to lactation is a metabolically challenging time in the life cycle of a dairy cow. Nutrient requirements to support milk production exceed nutrient intake, and the cow is at increased risk of metabolic and infectious disorders.

The role of the transition cow in robotics is no different than in any other milking system. A good transition program minimizes calving difficulties and metabolic and infectious diseases.