The dairy Lifetime Performance Index will be updated April 1 and includes some changes in trait weighting, including milk production as a dairy farmer realized it was over-emphasized.
Tag Archives dairy
Dairy LPI gets last minute updates
A dairy farmer figured out that the last index was over-weighted to milk production
Online presence brings farm stories directly to consumer
There can be pitfalls from being the face of farming on the internet
Olly Harrison and Davide Gomiero were recognized at Agritechnica and Eurotier for their public story telling about their farming operations.
Dairy producers, researcher weigh in on how to increase longevity
Production, fertility and replacement rate need to be balanced against economic factors for dairy farms
Building longevity in dairy herds doesn’t have a sure-fire formula, however, production, fertility and replacement rate using a cow-specific metric balanced against economic and management impact should influence culling decisions.
Bird flu finds fertile ground in dairy mammary cells: study
Beef cattle may not have same susceptibility, although more work is needed on the topic
A U.S. study reveals that the avian flu clade that has infected dairy herds throughout the country affects dairy cows in their mammary cells — an unusual place for flu viruses to replicate.
Watch dairy heifers grow on well-balanced diets
There are numerous different ways to get a quality mix to a farm’s heifers
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 then email […] Read more
Essential nutrients build strong, healthy hooves
Zinc, copper, manganese, cobalt and biotin are the major builders of solid hooves
The health and integrity of a cow’s hoof are critical for its overall well-being, productivity, and profitability. Inside every cow’s hoof, a silent factory works nonstop, turning living cells into […] Read more
Herds eliminating feed pellets in milking robots
Cows shown to learn to be milked without pellets in the robot in guided traffic systems
Updated March 12, 2025 Feeding cows to entice them to visit milking robots has been a best practice since cows started being milked automatically in Canada about 25 years ago. […] Read more
USDA detects a second bird flu strain in dairy cattle, agency email says
Strain not seen in cows previously
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has detected a bird flu strain in dairy cattle that previously had not been seen in cows, according to an email from the agency’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service seen by Reuters.
What numbers define dairy cow lameness?
Many farmers can’t quote their lameness data as well as other farm benchmarks
Lesion patterns, monthly locomotion scoring and incidence rates are measurable and recordable data for dairy farmers to record around lameness on their farms.
Top tips for successful dairy calf weaning
A step-down approach to weaning is critical as today’s calves consume more milk
Dairy calves weaned gradually are more likely to have greater gain, more feed consumption and fewer health issues than those weaned abruptly.