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▶️ Watch: New Concepts in Colostrum Feeding for Dairy Calves

Dairy producers should consider feeding a smaller volume of colostrum to newborn calves. Delivering the correct mass of immunoglobulin in a smaller volume ensures the successful transfer of passive immunity (TPI) is preferable to current colostrum feeding guidelines.

Build Your Foundation on High Fertility

Today, we can form our own pyramid of characteristics for high performing dairy herd reproductive management. During a recap of the 2024 Reproduction Roadshow, Dr. Paul Fricke, Dairy Cattle Reproduction Specialist for UW-Madison and Division of Extension, introduced his building blocks for top reproductive performance and how achieving each step opens more opportunities to use additional reproductive technologies.

Crowd gates done right: Best practices for cow comfort and welfare

Proper crowd gate functioning benefits both cows and dairy farm workers. For farm managers, effective staff training, regular crowd gate maintenance, and proper management are essential for ensuring successful crowd gate operation. While crowd gates help keep cows near the parlor entrance, it is crucial to avoid misusing them to promote positive animal welfare.

Top strategies to streamline your milking parlor

Ensuring a comfortable and safe parlor environment for both cows and workers, while efficiently using all available resources—including time—is crucial for the dairy business’ profitability. Milking time on a dairy farm is a balancing act between maintaining cleanliness and calmness while moving quickly enough to finish on time and get the cows back to their pens, where they can eat, drink, rest, and produce milk.

Keep Cattle Cool and Comfortable in Summer

The latest long-range forecasts from the National Weather Service show that Wisconsin has a 40% to 50% chance of a hotter-than-normal summer. Long periods of heat stress are more likely to have lasting effects on cattle, including early embryonic loss in heifers and cows, poor semen quality in bulls, and reduced gains in feeder cattle.