dairy cattle Archives - Page 6 of 14

Vitti: A common-sense high-forage diet for dairy cows

It's about finding the proper balance between grain and forage components of the ration

By Peter Vitti May 24, 2022

High-forage dairy diets have become very popular in the last few years. That’s because many dairy producers feared too much grain was being fed to their high-producing cows, causing digestive upsets and lameness. I have reviewed many of these former high-concentrate diets and agree that many were clearly unacceptable to feed. Yet I have also […] Read more

Dairy producers need to ensure that rations include adequate zinc levels as it performs so many different functions in dairy cows, in so many different ways.

Cattleman’s Corner

Don’t overlook zinc in a well-balanced dairy cattle diet

It’s a mineral that plays an important role in so many aspects of livestock production and growth

By Peter Vitti April 22, 2022

Zinc is one of about a dozen trace minerals essential to the good life and productivity of dairy cattle. Yet unlike some of the other essential trace minerals, zinc is not easily forgotten in a well-balanced dairy diet because it performs so many different functions in dairy cows, and in so many different ways. Much […] Read more

A proper faraway and close-up dry cow diet should be formulated to promote optimum body condition to ensure dairy cattle don’t get over conditioned.

Cattleman’s Corner, Cow-Calf, Livestock

Adjusting diet in dairy cows to prevent fatty liver syndrome

One important clue/cause is over-conditioned dry cows

By Peter Vitti March 1, 2022

All dairy cows go through a state of negative energy balance (NEB) right after calving. When a cow breaks down too much of her body fat to cover this energy gap in such a short period, accumulation of fat in the liver or fatty liver syndrome results and is detrimental to her health and milk […] Read more

A good lameness-prevention plan starts with a basic understanding of what a set of four healthy hooves is all about.

Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle, Livestock

Tips to prevent dairy cow lameness

Proper nutrition is the key to keeping cattle walking with comfort

By Peter Vitti February 11, 2022

Top-performing dairy cows must have healthy hooves. Walking and standing on four good hooves is the foundation of eating lots of well-balanced feed and then producing lots of milk. It is also a prerequisite for good standing heats, which leads to successful pregnancy. On the other hand, lame cows have a painful time getting out […] Read more

Dairy Cattle, Livestock

Study finds no data to show change in butter consistency

Not enough data to link to palm supplement use, either

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News January 22, 2022

Updated, Jan. 24 — A panel tasked with reviewing complaints of changes in Canadian butter’s consistency has found there’s not enough data out there to support those complaints — nor to support the allegation that palm byproducts in cows’ rations were the cause. The Expert Working Group on Feed Supplementation, set up by Dairy Farmers […] Read more

Proper nutrition ahead of breeding season can play an important part in reducing the risk of cows developing cystic ovaries.

Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle, Livestock

Cystic ovaries — a crime against good reproduction for dairy cows

Proper nutrition plays a key role in reducing the risk

By Peter Vitti January 13, 2022

Cystic ovaries are much like a case of an unsolved bank robbery — its clues have been extensively studied, but there are no direct causes found for the 10 to 25 per cent of incidences in lactating dairy cows. As a dairy nutritionist, I suspect that there are a number of animal and dietary abnormalities […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle

Vitti: Figure out proper rations for replacement dairy heifers

They need to keep growing, but you don’t want them too fat either

By Peter Vitti December 24, 2021

Many dairy heifer replacements come out of the calf barn in good shape. That’s because many were fed milk and calf-starter diets that supported exceptional growth. Ironically, some of these heifers are not fed well after weaning, and this nutrition gap makes them struggle throughout their first lactation. Such adverse nutrition can largely be avoided […] Read more

Farmers and community members help to rescue stranded cattle from a farm at Abbotsford, B.C. on Nov. 16, 2021, after rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in the area. (Photo: Reuters/Jesse Winter)

Dairy Cattle, Livestock, Weather

Road closures mean disposal for B.C. milk

Dairy farmers in Kootenays can still move milk east to Alberta

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News November 17, 2021

Many of British Columbia’s dairy producers can expect to have to dump raw milk for the near future as highways and other roads are rendered impassable. The B.C. Milk Marketing Board on Tuesday said milk won’t be picked up until further notice in several areas where roads are closed and/or trucks can’t enter the Lower […] Read more

Curled leaves on corn plants due to drought cause it look a bit like the spears of a pineapple crop, resulting in what some call pineapple corn.

Columns, Dairy Cattle, The Dairy Corner

Balance “pineapple” corn silage into dairy diets

Corn with rolled leaves should definitely be tested for nitrates

By Peter Vitti October 1, 2021

I never noticed a “pineapple” cornfield until I ‘ve seen several of them in Manitoba this summer. As I have done, dairy producers should take them in stride as part of our ongoing drought. A pineapple cornfield is simply what happens to a corn plant after months of severe drought. (It is a term used […] Read more

Livestock, Markets

StatsCan sees higher cattle, hog inventories at July 1

Full impacts of West's drought not yet counted

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News August 23, 2021

Nationwide head counts of livestock from the “early stages” of Western Canada’s ongoing drought won’t yet show the weather’s full impact, but showed slightly larger herds heading into this summer compared to last year. Statistics Canada on Monday reported the first year-over-year increase in the size of the country’s cattle herd as of July 1 […] Read more

GFM Network News

Confusion cleared on Canadian calf import changes

U.S. livestock: Live cattle continue higher

U.S. grains: Soybeans retreat after one-month high; corn, wheat sag

Tag Archives dairy cattle