Feed & Nutrition

Probiotics have been gaining attention in all segments of animal agriculture in the last several years. Although this has been influenced by several factors, the biggest overall driver has been the goal of reducing antibiotic usage due to government regulations and consumer demand.

The single-most important metric for formulating dairy cow diets is knowing how much a cow eats each day. However, the consistent and accurate measuring of dry matter intakes is probably the most elusive component of nutrition management on the dairy farm.

When a cow becomes pregnant, some of the nutrients it consumes will be used by the developing calf. There is no other time in the calf’s life when the development of tissues, organs and systems is occurring as rapidly as early weeks in utero.

Thanks to new research, we now have the ability to routinely evaluate the profile of butterfat as an indication of how it’s being made by the cow.

Your fresh cow program can make or break the economic success and health of each cow’s lactation. It is important to get these transitioning cows off to a solid start.

Today’s dairy cows are genetically superior to your father’s cows. Intensive selection for milk yield and stature has produced bigger, more productive cows. When you combine this with improved nutrition and cow management, it’s easy to see why dairy feed efficiency in North America has doubled in the past 100 years.