North Dakota State University
NDSU Extension Service
Vol. 9, No. 3, September 1999
Editors Note
Health
Transition Cow
Reproduction
Mastitis
Economics
Forages
With this writing, another summer has come and gone and the Dairy Convention is just around the corner. Slated for October 21-22 in Jamestown at the Dakota Inn, your convention committee has planned a variety of sessions to perk your interests. An agenda is included inside. Be sure to note such major changes as 1) an informal `rap session' Thursday evening; 2) mini sessions on Friday morning and in the afternoon, and 3) two fun tours. This requires a great deal of resources, especially for the break-out sessions, so we hope you'll attend. Because the mini sessions are running at the same time, you will not be able to attend all of them, but we encourage you to participate in as many as possible.
See you in October.
J.W. Schroeder
Livestock Specialist-Dairy
Dairy beef quality assurance requirements begin in 2000. HOWEVER, in order to comply, beef and dairy producers MUST be trained BEFORE December 21, 1999. Minnesota has taken the lead for dairy producers and formed the Midwest Dairy Beef Quality Assurance Center. Since they receive North Dakota's check-off money, they'll be providing some assistance in our state.
North Dakota has already established a beef quality assurance program. Lisa Lee will head up that program. In order for you to meet her and get acquainted with the program, I scheduled her presentation for Friday morning of the Dairy Convention. Lisa includes the following article and the enclosed insert. The bottom line . . . future regulations may require your participation. Start now and avoid last minute challenges.
Importance of non-fed beef. Non-fed or cull animals are economically important to both the individual dairy operation and to the beef industry. About 5 percent of a dairy operation's revenues are from the sale of cull animals. In the United States, domestic production of non-fed beef accounts for about 20 percent of the total amount of beef produced. Due to the economic importance of non-fed animals to the dairy operation and their importance to the beef industry, it is vital that non-fed animals be managed properly.
Dairy cull cows are very important to the beef industry. Dairy cattle represent a substantial proportion of the non-fed beef produced each year in the United States. About 75 percent of domestic non-fed beef is derived from slaughter cows. Of this 75 percent, roughly one-half is produced from dairy cows. Approximately one-third of the total non-fed beef production comes from non-fed dairy cows. Due to the importance of beef from cull dairy cows, their management becomes very important to the entire beef industry.
Non-fed or cull beef is more than just hamburger. The primals or the higher value cuts of the carcass are often marketed and served as high value beef. Loins (back) are cut and served as steaks in family steak houses. Rounds (hind legs) are processed and marketed as whole muscle products and served as deli roast beef for sandwiches. Because of the additional value received from these products, it is particularly important that injection-site blemishes and lesions be eliminated from these cuts. In the most recent non-fed beef injection site study, 58 percent of all non-fed dairy carcasses had at least one injection site lesion in the round.
There are several easy management practices that can improve the quality of non-fed beef and the value of cull dairy animals. Give all injections in the neck. This will decrease the overall incidence of injection site lesions in non-fed dairy carcasses. Keep cattle on non-slip concrete floors and non-slip stalls to decrease the risk of lameness, disabled cattle and bruising. Prevent animal health product residues. Strictly follow the withdrawal times on the product label. The withdrawal time for meat is often different than for milk. Eliminate bruises. Dehorn all animals and eliminate exposed nails and bolts from boards.
I recently returned from the annual American Dairy Sciences Association meeting (July) where scientists gather from all over the world to discuss their research findings on the dairy cow and on milk products.
This is the year of the transition cow. Five years ago there was hardly a research paper on the subject, this year you could spend a whole day hearing 15-minute talks on the subject. There is now much work showing the changes in the dairy cow's metabolism during the transition period. Research has demonstrated that major changes occur in hormones, blood and liver lipids, intake and of course milk flow. There has been more work done on the adequacy of protein in the ration. Generally, the research presented this year indicates that the recommended amounts of protein by NRC prior to and after calving are adequate for older cows but may not be for first calf heifers.
Research on the amino acid requirement of the transition cow indicates that methionine and lysine status of close up and fresh cows are important. A Miner Agricultural Research Institute study with a commercial herd in a conventional barn in Vermont altered rations so one group of cows received about 12 g of protected methionine and about 30 g of protected lysine. The rapid increase in production was amazing, with almost a 10 lb higher peak. Also noteworthy is that although the amino acid (which was top dressed) was only fed for four weeks, there was a long term residual effect.
These results show that there is a lot we do not know about the nutrient requirements of the high producing cow. While research differences are many, it has been apparent that we do make sure to balance the carbohydrate sources to control rumen pH. Also be careful to always meet the rumen bacterial protein requirements. Obviously, there is much more work to do since current nutrition programs do not predict this type of response.
Source: Charlie Sniffen, William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute
Reproduction management ranks high among the challenges for many producers. Below is a list of the likely causes of poor conception.
Through the use of proper testing and critical evaluation of management practices and techniques the cause of low conception rates can be identified. It generally requires a team approach involving the nutritionist, veterinarian, AI personnel, the management team and persistence to resolve the problem.
Source: Michael O'Connor, Dairy and Animal Science Extension, Penn State
Teat lesions can be caused by a variety of events, including trauma, chemical injury, environmental conditions, insects and the milking machine. Traumatic lesions of the teat are most commonly the result of the cow stepping on her teats or wire cuts. They are a troublesome problem for the veterinarian as well as the dairy producer.
Histologically, the teat wall contains an abundance of elastic connective tissue which provides for expansion and contraction of the teat as it fills and evacuates milk in the lactating cow. The near constant movement associated with these physical dynamics of the teat combined with milking preparation procedures and milk collection complicate the normal healing process.
The producer's challenge is in getting cows with teat lesions milked. Because these lesions are generally painful and cows resist preparation and milking procedures, they are difficult if not hazardous to milk.
A further complication is mastitis. Teat lesions are readily colonized by bacteria and thus serve as an important reservoir of infection. Udder preparation cloths, hands of the milker and milking machine components facilitate the transfer of infectious organisms between quarters of the same cow and can be responsible for cow to cow transmission as well. Emphasis on milking hygiene procedures becomes crucial for controlling new infections whenever teat lesions are present.
Depending on severity and the period of time prior to discovery, teat lacerations may be repaired surgically. Fresh superficial lacerations of the teat skin (within 12 hours of occurrence) in which the vascular supply has not been significantly damaged have the best prognosis. These are generally amenable to surgical closure. If, on the other hand, such lesions go unnoticed for a couple of days and become heavily contaminated, cleansing in mild disinfectant solution and removal of the skin flap tissue are likely the best therapeutic approach.
Teat lacerations which extend into the teat cistern are of greater concern and generally carry a more guarded prognosis. The exposed edges of the cistern lining must be sutured using a suture pattern that will turn the edges inward creating an impervious seal. If this is not achieved healing cannot occur and draining fistulas develop. The teat wall muscle layers and the skin may be closed separately or individually. Most advise intramammary and/or systemic therapy for 4 to 5 days as a precaution against the development of mastitis. A protective bandage allowing access to the teat end for milking is recommended. Milk should be retrieved from the gland through the use of teat cannulas.
Pastured cattle have a lower incidence of teat trauma than confined cattle. Housing factors of primary importance are associated with the amount of space available to the cow for resitng and rising. Further, individual cow characteristics and conformation increase the potential for teat trauma in some cows.
Source: Non Infectious Lesions of the Bovine Teat, J.K. Shearer, University of Florida
One of the easiest and most readily available numbers to allow you to evaluate your efficiency of producing milk is to compare the cost of feeding relative to milk produced. For instance, on your recent DHI summary, if the daily feed cost was $3.16 to produce an average of 64 pounds of milk, that means it would cost $4.94 to produce 100 pounds of milk. If you could produce the same 64 pounds of milk with a feed cost of only $2.50 the cost per 100 pounds would be only $3.91. On the other hand, if the feed cost was $3.50 it would translate to $5.47 per hundred.
If it is costing more than $5.00 for you to produce 100 pounds of milk it may be worth trying to figure out why. If you have high feed costs and only average production this would indicate cows are not responding to more expensive nutrition and it might be possible to use less expensive feed sources without affecting milk produced. On the other hand, if milk produced is relatively low without significant savings in feed inputs the feed cost per 100 pounds of milk produced will be excessively high. Some attention to improving production per cow might be advisable. Therefore, either excessive feed cost or low milk production can result in undesirable feed cost per 100 pounds of milk produced.
Cornell researchers have discovered that Bt corn pollen on milkweed leaves can kill Monarch butterfly larvae. (Monarchs munch milkweed.) Here's what we know, and don't know, about this latest biotech controversy.
The Cornell study was done in the lab, so it's not certain how this would transfer to the field. However, cornfield research at Iowa State also found increased mortality from Bt pollen to Monarch larvae, warranting further research. Some Bt events result in Bt protein in all parts of the corn plant, including pollen, while for other Bt events the protein is only in the green tissue. One solution to the problem may be to use only those events that result in no Bt protein in the pollen.
For now, one possibility may be to plant 16 rows or so of non-Bt corn around the field, and the Bt corn in the middle. This reduces the chance of Bt pollen being deposited on milkweed.
The jury is still out. Until proponents are all on one page, perhaps it's too early to
buy an expensive new chopper with a processing unit. It works, but we just don't know to
what extent or under which (if not all) conditions.
Dairy Connection, Vol. 9, No. 3, September 1999
NDSU Extension Service, North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied
Science, and U.S. Department of Agriculture cooperating. Sharon D. Anderson, Director,
Fargo, North Dakota. Distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June
30, 1914. We offer our programs and facilities to all persons regardless of race, color,
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North Dakota State University
NDSU Extension Service