dairy cattle Archives

U.S. FDA suspends milk quality tests amid workforce cuts

By Leah Douglas April 21, 2025

Washington | Reuters – The Food and Drug Administration is suspending a quality control program for testing of fluid milk and other dairy products due to reduced capacity in its food safety and nutrition division, according to an internal email seen by Reuters. The suspension is another disruption to the nation’s food safety programs after […] Read more

a handful of corn silage for dairy cattle

Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle, The Dairy Corner

Well-balanced starch and forage levels make milk

Dairy Corner: The amount of starch in corn and barley silage can vary greatly between harvests

By Peter Vitti April 17, 2025

Starch levels in corn and barley silage can vary widely between harvests, so they need to be balanced in a dairy ration, nutritionist Peter Vitti says.

It’s a good idea to keep walking your heifer pens and assessing their body conditions at all stages of development.

Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle, The Dairy Corner

Watch dairy heifers grow on well-balanced diets

The Dairy Corner: There are numerous ways to get a quality mix to a farm’s heifers

By Peter Vitti March 9, 2025

I have balanced many dairy heifer replacement diets in the last few months. It’s a pretty easy exercise once I put it down on a PDF spreadsheet and email it to the dairy producer. I am confident all heifer nutrient requirements are met, given how heifers consume it. Plus, I want to make these diets […] Read more

There’s more labour needed to manage artificial insemination, but it can improve the rate of genetic gain.

Beef Cattle, Cattleman’s Corner, Columns

Increasing AI use has many advantages

Animal Health: There are improved technologies for breeding and synchronization, for which AI makes more sense

By Roy Lewis January 10, 2025

Over the last decade or so, artificial insemination (AI), not to be confused with the other AI (artificial intelligence), has seen an upsurge in the commercial cattle population. This has been happening for a lot longer in the purebred cattle industry and a lot of the reasons are the same. If one is considering AI […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Features

Marcus and Paige Dueck

Outstanding Young Farmers 2024: Finding that work-life equilibrium involves some trade-offs — and new technology

November 8, 2024

With dairy cattle, cash crops and two young children, the days are still pretty busy for Manitoba farmers Marcus and Paige Dueck — but new technology introduced in recent years has helped them be more efficient and find balance in their lives. For the Duecks, who are the third generation on Four Oak Farms near […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock

Dairy farm milk price drops for 2025

By John Greig November 1, 2024

The Canadian Dairy Commission announced Nov. 1, 2024 that a decline in feed prices and the stabilization of other costs on dairy farms across the country means that the benchmark on-farm price for milk will decline by 0.0237 per cent starting in February 2025.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Markets

Fed market reflects beginning signs of herd expansion

The Markets: Beef cow numbers are still expected to decline in 2024 and 2025

By Jerry Klassen October 29, 2024

Western Canadian feeder cattle prices have been trading near historical highs throughout the summer and early fall period. At the time of writing this article, larger-frame Angus steers off grass averaging 950 lbs. were trading around $320/cwt in central Alberta. Steers averaging 500 lbs. were quoted between $450/cwt and $500/cwt, depending on weaning stage and […] Read more

The writer with a field of peas. Like corn or barley, peas can be fed to high-milk producing dairy cattle as a good dietary energy source.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Dairy Cattle, Peas, The Dairy Corner

How field peas fit in dairy lactation diets

Dairy Corner: Research and some practical trials show peas can be fed to cows with no effect on milk yield

By Peter Vitti October 16, 2024

A few years back, there was a surge of investment in pea processing for the plant-based protein industry. A multimillion-dollar plant was built in Manitoba, along with other smaller related food and processing businesses. There was more than just talk about growing more peas in Western Canada in which an offshoot would be feeding more […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Reuters

Study indicates methane emissions from dairy farms higher than previously thought

By The Conversation via Reuters Connect October 3, 2024

To reach net zero by 2050, the UK must reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and methane emissions from farm livestock pose a thorny problem. Ruminants such as cattle and sheep emit methane from their digestive systems and their manure. Scientists are trying to find ways to reduce these methane emissions without wiping out large parts of […] Read more

Hoof strength problems are one area where the use of chelated minerals could make sense.

Cattleman’s Corner, The Dairy Corner

Strategic use of chelated minerals makes financial sense

Dairy Corner: There are specific cases where chelated minerals should be used in dairy diets

By Peter Vitti September 17, 2024

In the last couple of years, I’ve noticed most dairy lactation diets contain a fortified level of chelated trace minerals. When I ask dairy producers why they feed them over conventional ones, they often say they don’t know or their nutritionist thinks it’s a good idea. There is nothing technically wrong with feeding chelated trace […] Read more

Alberta crop conditions improve: report

U.S. grains: Corn sets contract lows on expectations for big US crop

U.S. livestock: Cattle strength continues

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