Herd Health

Subclinical ketosis: The quiet milk thief, sickening cows and frustrating farmers nationwide. The bad news: Detecting it effectively and efficiently on-farm can be costly and challenging.

A contagious disease once seen as a “California problem” has now crept into every major dairy-producing state in the U.S., and it’s wreaking havoc on infected young calves and adult cows.

Anyone involved in dairy farming knows the frustration of a mastitis infection. It’s costly – maybe your favorite cow was culled too soon or your milk premiums took a hit. One clinical mastitis case alone is shown to cost $444 during the first 30 days in milk.

Many dairy farmers have seen animals suffering from multiple tumors in the lymph nodes; this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many infected animals will not be clearly ill but are not producing to the best of their capabilities.

The transition period is challenging for the dairy cow since the cow needs to adapt very quickly to the calving process, the sudden change from a non-lactating to a lactating stage and to the preparation for the next breeding period.

Are you stressed about planting crops this spring? Are you stressed that it will be too wet or too dry when that time comes? Are you stressed about the current and forecasted milk price? Are you stressed about employee retention?