Emerging Technologies and Facilities provide animal comfort and express the genetic potential of the herd to produce milk at a profit. The range of project investments is large. One farm may need to remodel a building for calves while another farm needs a new barn and parlor.
Based on their symbiotic relationship with the rumen microorganisms, dairy cows have an extraordinary capacity to transform human-inedible plant materials into energy for maintenance and lactation.
In this episode of Badger Dairy Insight, we hear from Dr. João Dórea, an assistant professor in Precision Agriculture and Data Analytics in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences at UW–Madison.
When cows are heat stressed, they eat less, produce less milk, have reduced immune function and higher SCC, and show reduced fertility. A spike in lameness often follows the hot season.
Cuando las vacas están estresadas por el calor, comen menos, producen menos leche, tienen una función inmune reducida y un conteo de células somáticas (SCC, por sus siglas en inglés) más alto, y muestran una fertilidad reducida.
In this recorded Badger Dairy Insight webinar, UW-Madison Division of Extension Farm Management Outreach Specialist Jim Versweyveld discusses onboarding and training for dairy employees and discusses how interactive learning experiences can help build confidence by allowing dairy workers to actively participate in their own training.
An alternative to this is indoor calf housing, where renovated old barns can be utilized, taking advantage of the existing structure. Adapting an old building to house calves involves several steps:
In this video Rebecca Larson, Professor and Extension Specialist in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will talk about manure processing systems.
Keeping your livestock safe from microbes, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, is the biosecurity goal that all farms should have. Wearing clean, sanitized footwear helps meet this goal as foot traffic moves microbes to and around the farm.
While all the data points of information at our fingertips to monitor is a positive, there are still areas to improve when it comes to animal health and Automated Milking Systems (AMS), particularly for hoof health.
Ventilation is an important part of managing a dairy barn for maintaining air quality, removing heat and moisture, and providing a comfortable environment for dairy cattle. There are typically three types of ventilation systems used in dairy buildings: natural, mechanical, or a combination of the two.
Manure can be used in a sustainable manner by returning nutrients to the soil to grow crops that feed animals. However, on many livestock farms, manure poses operational, economic, and environmental constraints. Managing manure every day requires labor and money. Losses of manure constituents from the system result in negative environmental impacts such as degrading water and air quality.
Phosphorus is an important mineral added to animals’ diets and is critical to their development and growth. However, much of the phosphorus is excreted and ends up in manure. For many crops, if manure is applied at the rate needed for nitrogen, too much phosphorus is applied, which may lead to a buildup of excess phosphorus in soils. Phosphorus buildup can lead to increased phosphorus loss and the resulting environmental consequences. If manure is applied to meet crop phosphorus needs, supplemental nitrogen application is required.
