North Dakota State University
NDSU Extension Service
REPLACEMENTS
Raising calves is a difficult task
Score your calf's sanitation
MISCELLANEOUS
A cowboy's guide to life (part three of three)
PRODUCTION
When should milking units be attached?
Are you overmilking?
LABOR
Three reasons you should provide training
Avoid "assumacy"
MILK QUALITY
What's the secret?
Facts about teat-end shape
REPRODUCTION
Early pregnancy diagnosis
My best cow was by a herd bull
RESEARCH UPDATE
NDSU and RFID
ENVIRONMENT
Maximizing forage intake is a way to
improve nutrient balance on dairy farms
By the time you read this, we will be approaching the holiday season. With the year winding down, I want to remind you of our main dairy event, the convention. If you haven't heard, we've combined programming with the North Dakota Pork Council.
Dairy and pork producers have a few things in common. Our statewide producer numbers are similar, we share environmental issues, and both are looking to collaborate for a more cost-effective convention.
On behalf of the Milk Producers Association of North Dakota, I invite you to Bismarck on Thursday and Friday, Dec. 8 -9, 2005, at the Doublewood Inn. Together with the North Dakota Pork Council and the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, we've planned an educational program that should be of joint interest, along with some excellent breakout sessions.
Our special feature is a guest appearance by John Phipps, the new host of "U.S. Farm Report." We expect his Thursday kickoff to attract a variety of people from around the Bismarck/Mandan area, and hope you can make arrangements to attend as well.
Here is a glimpse of the program.
| Thursday, Dec. 8 | |
| 10 to 11 a.m. | Keynote Address - "Must-Have Power Tools for 2006" |
| John Phipps | |
| 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. | Conference Buffet Luncheon |
| 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. | General Session - "What are the Odds: A Guide to Better Worrying" |
| John Phipps | |
| 1:30 p.m. | Joint Session I - "Aerial Pollutant Emissions from Animal Agriculture" |
| David Schmidt | |
| 3:30 p.m. | Joint Session II - "Zoning Rules That Impact You" Ramifications of HB 1291 on Livestock |
| Rep. Eugene Nicholas | |
| 4:15 p.m. | Breakout Session I - Dairy - "Calf Nutrition and Management" |
| Dan Catherman | |
| 6:15 p.m. | Recognition Banquet |
| Friday, Dec. 9 | |
| 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. | Joint Buffet Breakfast |
| 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. | General Session - "What is USDA-ARS?" and "How Science Affects Public Policy" |
| Phyllis Johnson | |
| 9:30 to 9:45 a.m. | N.D. Dairy Coalition - "Dairy Development Highlights" |
| Gary Hoffman | |
| 9:45 to 10:15 a.m. | Breakout Session II - Dairy - "Advances in Mastitis Treatment" |
| Sarah Wagner | |
| 10:15 to 10:45 a.m. | "Why Some Dairy/Beef Cows are Getting Condemned" |
| Lisa Pederson | |
| Annual Meeting | |
| 10:45 a.m. | Milk Producers Association of North Dakota Chamber |
| Board of Directors |
Here's wishing you a happy holiday season and
a healthy new year.
Best wishes,
J.W. Schroeder
Extension specialist-dairy
Department of Animal and Range Sciences
Some comments taken from Dairy-L by Hans Andresen S., summarizing the challenges of raising dairy calves:
1. The most important thing the farmer is responsible for is colostrum intake of newborn calves. Within 30 to 60 minutes of birth, Holstein calves should receive 4 liters (8.5 pints) of high-quality colostrum, if necessary via esophageal probe.
2. The farm should keep the calves until weaning, if possible. They should stay in individual pens until one week after weaning.
3. Whole milk should be supplied all the time (whole powder milk is OK). He prefers milk and milk products over milk replacers.
4. High-quality starter should be supplied ad libitum from the first days of life. Calves should be able to consume 800 grams (1.8 pounds) or more daily, by the age of 30 days. At this time, weaning can be accomplished.
5. Clean water should be available at all times from birth.
6. Avoid stress. Weaning and changing from pens to a corral is too much stress.
7. One week after weaning, calves can be grouped in small units for five to not more than 10 calves. He recommends an all-in/all-out system.
8. Avoid humid and chilling environments. Provide shade and ventilation when hot.
9. All facilities should be kept dry and clean. Pens and units should be disinfected and remain vacant for a few days before new calves are admitted.
10. Good management never can be replaced with vaccines or antibiotics.
Source: Hans Andresen S., Lima, Peru
Sanitation protocols or standard operating procedures are vital to calf health. Use this scoring guide and checklist, provided by Sam Leadley, calf-care specialist with Attica (N.Y.) Veterinary Associates, to help evaluate your sanitation protocols for preweaned calves.
Assign a score to each statement below using this scoring guide: 1 = never, 2 = seldom, 3 = often, 4 = usually, and 5 = almost always.
1. My protocols are consistent with the goal of reducing pathogen exposure. 1 2 3 4 5
2. I post protocols at each work site and keep steps short and to the point. 1 2 3 4 5
3. I include the input of calf-care employees when defining the work-site protocols. 1 2 3 4 5
4. I encourage employees to find their own solutions to procedural problems. 1 2 3 4 5
5. I state the protocol in "action" terms that are understood by calf-care employees. 1 2 3 4 5
6. When possible, I build performance standards into work-site protocols. 1 2 3 4 5
7. I laminate work-site protocols and post them near the job location for easy reference. 1 2 3 4 5
8. I encourage regular protocol evaluation and revision by calf-care employees. 1 2 3 4 5
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
Don't interfere with something that ain't botherin' you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
It's better to be a has-been than a never-was.
The easiest way to eat crow is while it's still warm.
Author unknown
Prep lag time is the time between the beginning of teat preparation and the application of the milking machine. Optimal milking efficiency can be defined as the highest possible milk yield obtained without milking on empty teats. Studies in the U.S. and Denmark have determined that prep lag timing is the most important factor in optimizing milking efficiency.
These studies report the ideal prep lag time to be 1.3 minutes. The range of 60 to 90 seconds is accepted as the optimal prep lag for all stages of lactation. Prep lag times of greater than three minutes were found to result in more residual milk and lower milk yields, regardless of the stage of lactation. Excessively long prep lag times are more common in stall-barn milking and likely limit herd performance. More effort needs to be made in using routines that optimize prep lag times.
Source: NMC-PDPW Milk Quality Conference Proceedings (2001) pg. 33
Overmilking is something to be concerned about because it may affect teat condition and udder health. The historic background for overmilking is mainly based on the assumption that all milk should be removed from the udder to maximize the milk yield. However, overmilking really has no benefit since it increases the machine-on time and decreases the capacity of the milking parlor.
Overmilking easily may be determined by observing some of the following parameters: teat color and ringing at the base of the teat after detachment, restless or kicking cows during the late-flow rate period, nervous first-lactation cows, or long milk hoses or claws without milk. If these conditions are observed, then increase threshold values and/or decrease delay time of the automatic cluster removers in small steps. Position the claw well and adjust the load on the four teats, and use a consistent milking routine with respect to each individual cow. Monitor milk yield and strip yield. Strip yields of 100 milliliters (ml) per cow do not cause a milk yield decrease, but the proportion of cows with more than 250 ml of strip yield should not be above 10 percent.
Milking out the last couple of pounds of milk takes longer if premilking teat preparation is conducted less efficiently or even omitted. Consequently, a good premilking teat preparation, a short, consistent interval until attachment, and calm cows are prerequisites for detachment at high-flow rates. Cows will respond with short machine-on times, excellent teat condition and proper milk-out.
Source: NMC 43rd Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2004, pg. 169 (Rasmussen)
Failure to train employees will cost you money. Whether it is having to dump a load of milk, or breaking a piece of equipment from improper use, employees who do not receive proper training are an accident waiting to happen, says Jorge Estrada, Leadership Coaching International Inc., Puyallup, Wash.
Training is important because it results in:
1. Improved consistency
2. Cost savings, such as more precise feeding and use of medications
3. Improved performance and employee motivation
Just because you post a protocol for washing calf bottles above the sink doesn't mean employees automatically will know what it is for and how to follow it. This kind of "assumacy" can lead to problems _ in this case, calf bottles not being cleaned properly. Sam Leadley, calf-care expert at Attica (N.Y.) Veterinary Associates, offers these three rules for avoiding "assumacy":
1. Before asking employees to perform a job by themselves, have them demonstrate that they are proficient in these skills.
2. After you show employees how to perform a new skill, have the employees repeat the task, showing you that they can do it the same way successfully.
3. Tell employees why the task is important during training.
Many dairy farms produce high-quality milk and have no secrets regarding how they achieve it. The consistent implementation of standardized milking practices, such as forestripping, predipping, the use of single towels to dry teats and well-defined milking routines, are essential aspects of high-quality milk production. Implementation of these practices is dependent on the ability to clearly communicate the value of these practices and to motivate milking personnel to apply them consistently. The managerial tasks of running a dairy farm must include the development of written milking procedures and must value continual training for milking personnel.
The only secret of producing high-quality milk is to continue to develop and motivate the people who milk the cows.
Source: Pamela Ruegg, University of Wisconsin, 2004 NMC Proceedings, pg 34
Teat-end shapes have been described variously but generally fall into the following five classes: 1) round; 2) pointed or prolapsed; 3) flat; 4) funnel or inverted; and 5) disk or plate shaped.
Round teat ends make up the predominant shape (60+ percent), with flat and funneled shape combining for 30+ percent. Plate and pointed-shaped teats contribute a small proportion (<10 percent) in most herds.
Teat-end shape is a highly heritable trait with heritability estimates of .44 to .56. Repeatability estimates for teat-end shape range from .67 to .84. Data on correlations between teat-end shape and somatic cell count/mastitis have been mixed and inconclusive, although round teat ends tend to have lower SCC and infections. Teat-end shape does seem to have positive correlation to hyperkeratosis and/or cracking, with inverted teats having lower incidence and pointed teats having the highest.
Source: Leo Timms, Iowa State University, 2004 NMC Proceedings, pg 143
Pregnancy diagnosis is an important part of the reproductive program on most dairies. Finding open cows is the most important aspect of pregnancy diagnosis. Cows that are pregnant do not need further reproductive attention. The open cow needs semen as soon as possible. Many veterinarians are starting to employ ultrasound to detect pregnancy at earlier dates than are possible by rectal palpation. Ultrasound can detect pregnancies as early as 25 to 30 days. The earliest time that pregnancy can be detected depends on a variety of factors, such as ambient light and operator experience. (If the sunlight is bright where ultrasound is being performed, it can make detection of very early pregnancy more difficult.)
The primary advantage to early pregnancy diagnosis is the ability to find open cows quicker and get those cows enrolled into the current farm system for getting semen. The poorer the heat detection is on the farm, the more important consideration of early pregnancy diagnosis can be. The time interval between herd health visits also affects the advantages of early pregnancy diagnosis.
For example, if your current cutoff for palpation is 35 days bred, and a cow in your herd is 34 days bred (but open) when the veterinarian visits, and the veterinarian comes every four weeks, that cow will be 62 days bred when the veterinarian discovers she is open at the next visit. If heat detection is a challenge on your farm, as it is on many farms, there is a good chance you may not find this cow in heat, and therefore she will not have had another opportunity to get inseminated and become pregnant.
One important consideration in early pregnancy diagnosis is the increased likelihood of cows losing early pregnancies (see figure). The higher percentage of pregnancy loss is not a reflection of the abilities of the veterinarian doing pregnancy diagnosis or an indication of infectious disease, but rather of natural death loss. If you choose to use early pregnancy detection, rechecking pregnancies is important, particularly in those cows less than 40 days bred at pregnancy diagnosis. You also need to understand that a higher percentage of cows will return to heat after being diagnosed pregnant than when pregnancy was diagnosed further along in the pregnancy.
Pregnancy losses from 28 post AI to calving in lactating dairy cows. Pregnancy status was diagnosed using ultrasound at 28, 42, 56, 70 and 98 day post AI; and calving data were recorded at parturition. The conception rate at 28 days was 32%. Data adapted from Vasconselos et al., 1.
Traditional pregnancy determination methods have served producers well for many years and continue to do so today. Early pregnancy diagnosis by ultrasound is another tool you may want to discuss with your veterinarian to see if it is right for your farm.
Source: John F. Currin, Virginia Tech, Virginia State University
You've heard the comment from a number of dairy producers through the years and a sound genetic principal actually is behind it. It usually is a subjective recollection of an older cow or two that left a favorable impression on the owner, without recalling how many half sisters to those cows had been culled years earlier. The comment is about "my best cow," not "the best group of cows any bull ever left in my herd." The sound genetic principal comes from selection intensity.
A lot of producers use too many different AI bulls, with only enough semen on any one AI bull to produce a few daughters. A herd bull, on the other hand, may breed 30 to 40 heifers a season, plus some cleanup duty in the milking herd. Such bulls may produce 20 to 30 daughters in a 150-cow herd. The best individual cow out of a group of 30 is almost certain to be at least competitive with, if not better than, the best cow out of a group of five daughters of even the top AI bulls.
Bulls should be evaluated on the average merit of their progeny, not by a subjective evaluation of their best single daughter in one herd. Every daughter a bull leaves in a herd generates income and expenses. The research on this topic is conclusive: Daughters of good IA bulls leave the bank account in better shape than daughters of herd bulls. A 2002 study in the Journal of Dairy Science (JDS 85:3492-3502) showed that average daughters of proven AI bulls generated $148 per cow more lifetime net income than average daughters of non-AI bulls under fluid milk market conditions. That's dollars left over after all the bills and receipts _ feed, rearing, health, breeding, culling and production _ were considered. The "best" cow in a dairy farmer's herd may have been a daughter of a herd bull, but for the vast majority of herds, the best groups of cows were sired by AI bulls.
Source: Bennet Cassell, Virginia Tech, Virginia State University
A recent research effort is with radio frequency identification, or RFID. By definition, RFID is a method of identifying unique items using radio waves. Typically, a reader communicates with a tag, which holds digital information in a microchip. But some chipless forms of RFID tags use material to reflect back a portion of the radio waves beamed at them. This technology has been used in commercial warehouses for several years.
The current U.S. Department of Agriculture plan, the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), would require that each farmer, stockyard owner and feeder keep an electronic record of every head of cattle as it passes through his business. To ensure rapid disease containment and maximum protection of America's animals, the NAIS program is intended to give officials the ability to track the movements within the past 48 hours of any animal discovered to be diseased or exposed to disease.
NDSU, Alien Technology and the Department of Animal and Range Sciences are experimenting with one of the various radio frequency technologies. The Dairy Research Unit has been working recently with the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) at NDSU to setup a 900-megahertz RFID test facility. The facility's purpose is to measure the effectiveness of the RFID technology in tracking cattle, specifically in a dairy environment.
This setup is a complement to another installation at the Dickinson Research Extension Center that focuses on RFID cattle tracking in a range environment. These efforts will provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the current technology's ability to serve the cattle industry and provide a testing ground as the CNSE designs RFID tags optimized for use with cattle.
Source: Dustin Vaselaar, graduate research assistant, Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering - North Dakota State University
Maximizing the amount of forage in the ration not only can improve cow health but reduces the need for supplemental feeds that typically are high in phosphorus (P). For instance, soybean meal contains .7 percent P (dry basis), compared with .3 percent for alfalfa. Simply supplying more protein with alfalfa will reduce the need for more soybean meal and result in lower ration P.
Also, many byproduct feeds contain high concentrations of P. Feeds such as whole cottonseeds (.6 percent), brewers grains (.67 percent) and distillers grains (.83 percent) are good examples. Using more forage in the ration can reduce the need for these feeds. The fact that most forage is grown on the farm using recycled nutrients in manure makes it a desirable practice for net reduction of nutrients onto the farm and subsequently into the soil, where accumulation can occur with the possibility of water contamination.
To maximize forage in the ration, conduct a complete forage analysis every month to monitor quality and correct rations as needed. A complete analysis would include dry matter, crude protein, fiber (acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber) and estimated energy, plus minerals on a less regular basis. Many reports will give protein solubility, and in some cases an estimated degradability. Also, a fermentation profile can be obtained with pH and acids reported for fermented feeds. This can give an idea of how complete the fermentation was and how stable it might be over time.
Another measurement that is being used increasingly is neutral detergent fiber digestibility. This measurement can be used to more correctly estimate the energy content of the forage because fiber is an important contributor of energy in forages, including corn silages. Corn silage is relatively low in P, containing .26 percent.
To use the maximum forage, producers need to do analyses pre- and postharvest. Forage quality needs to be measured periodically with the latest techniques available to improve the estimates of energy content, and supplementation sometimes can be reduced with no loss of milk yield.
Source: Charles Stallings, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg
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