August 2017 vol.2
Brought to you by Dairy's Professional Development Organization®
  
Opportunities to learn...
 
MINIMIZING THE EFFECT OF WEATHER ON CALVES will be the focus of a World Class Webinar on Wednesday, September 27.  Dr. Geof Smith of North Carolina State University will discuss approaches and options to combat the stressful weather transition for calves from summer to fall.  It will provide both practical and creative solutions for housing, labor, nutrition and calf management.  Register online here or contact PDPW at 800-947-7379.  Participants who have registered can watch the sessions live or will receive a fully recorded version to watch at their leisure.   
   
SAVE THE DATE: FINANCIAL LITERACY COURSES LED BY DR. DAVID KOHL are on tap beginning October 23-24.  The inaugural class of PDPW Financial Literacy for Dairy will be held in Madison, Wis., and provide dairy farmers and allied industry the knowledge base and financial acumen needed to successfully and confidently make daily, annual and long-term strategic decisions for their dairy business. The session will be limited to 30 attendees and include four two-day sessions including the one in October, and followed by sessions in December, January, and April.  Learn more here or contact PDPW at 800-947-7379 to register. 

For your dairy...
 
ADDING GLYCEROL TO DIETS STIMULATES DRY MATTER INTAKE AND MILK PROTEIN YIELD at a higher level compared to the addition of corn grain, according to research published in the August 2017 issue of the Journal of Dairy Science.  Researchers studied the impact of three diets on lactating dairy cows: a 70% forage diet (considered the basal diet), the basal diet with 19% ground and high-moisture corn replacing forages, and the basal diet with 15% refined glycerol and 4% added protein supplements. Dry matter intake tended to be higher with glycerol than corn. Milk production increased from 39.2 kg/day on the basal diet to 43.8 kg/day on the corn diet and 44.2 kg/day on the glycerol diet. However, milk yield did not differ between corn and glycerol diets. Learn more here.

PREVENT COVER CROPS FROM BECOMING YOUR NEXT PROBLEM WEED by planning ahead now for spring termination of those crops.  Acreage designated to cover crops are on the rise thanks to soil quality and other benefits, but planting cover crops without a plan for termination can result in weeds that reduce quality and yield the following year.  Termination plans must be tailored to the cover crop species and a grower's plans for the next grain or forage crop.  Review resources from Nutrient and Pest Management Program to choose develop your planting and termination plan and UW-Extension to review recent trials of winter rye and annual ryegrass termination using glyphosate.

PILOT STUDY FOCUSED ON SIGNS OF PAIN DURING MASTITIS In a new study in press in the Journal of Dairy Science, six cows received an inoculation of E. coli P4  in one quarter and were monitored through three phases of the challenge (subclinical, acute, and remission).  They studied nine indicators of behavioral change, including cows' attitude toward their surroundings, tail position, clinical signs, ear position, and variation of postural changes, concentrations of haptoglobin and serum amyloid A (SAA), cortisol blood levels, and rumen temperature. The results in this small study suggest that cows may experience discomfort in the preclinical phase and pain in the acute phase but not in the remission phase, and that larger controlled studies are needed to determine if behavioral signals could be used to improve early detection of E.coli mastitis and decisions for pain treatment.  Read more here .
Hit the road...
 
LA CLARE FAMILY CREAMERY
W2994 County Road H, Malone, Wis.
Owned and operated by Larry and Clara Hedrich and family
 
LaClare Farms includes a retail shop, café, farmstead creamery and dairy goat farm where visitors can enjoy a meal featuring local ingredients or shop for a variety of Wisconsin artisan and farmstead cheese as well as wine, ice cream, craft beer and specialty foods.  Learn more on their website and Facebook page 

Dairy currents...

MANY CONSUMERS ARE UNCERTAIN OF FACT VERSUS FICTION when it comes to the food they buy. According to recent research from Michigan State University, more than one-third of Americans don't know that foods with no genetically modified ingredients still contain genes.  The Food Literacy and Engagement poll highlighted the questions and concerns people have about their food and shows they are not often looking for information from scientific resources.  About 50% of respondents expressed concern over the safety of food available for purchase in their community, and 48% say they never or rarely seek information about where their food was grown or how it was produced.  In addition, just 59% of respondents said they trust information from academic scientists on nutrition and food safety, 49% trust government scientists, and only 33% trust industry scientists.  Read more about the poll results here. 

DEVELOPING A "VIRTUAL DAIRY FARM BRAIN" IS THE GOAL  of a multidisciplinary team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison working with dairy farmers to find ways to make the most of data coming from new technologies. The goal is development of an app that could compile data streams from multiple sources, then use artificial intelligence to analyze the collected data to help farmers make better management decisions. The two-year project is currently working with a small number of dairy herds, then will use those findings to drive a larger research study.  Read more in this Feedstuffs article .

CONVENIENCE AND TIME SAVINGS ARE DRIVING MEAL-KIT ADOPTION PREPARING in the United States, with 25% of Americans purchasing a meal-kit delivery in 2016.  Sales of meal-kit-delivery products have reached $5 billion, with a number of competitors including Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Sun Basket, Peapod and many more.  Customers also say they choose meal-kit services as a source of healthy recipes and see them as a healthier alternative to prepared meals from grocery stores.  Read more here .
For your business mind...
 
EVALUATING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND OPTIONS DURING UNCERTAIN TIMES requires a strategic approach including risk assessment, understanding the farm's strategic direction and how vulnerable the farm might be to business uncertainties.  When making decisions about projects or new ventures, an article from Purdue University outlines a discovery-driven planning process that includes the following steps: define success, benchmark, define operational requirements and document assumptions.  Read more about this approach and examples for how it can be applied to decisions in today's environment here .

TAKE PRECAUTIONS WHEN DEALING WITH HYDROGEN SULFIDE to keep yourself and employees safe.  One breath of hydrogen sulfide at 500 parts per million is enough to render someone unconscious almost immediately, according to a series of publications from Iowa State University Extension.  While hydrogen sulfide gas smells at 1-2 ppm, levels above that knock out a human's ability to smell, making the natural detection method useless. Click here for resources to help beef and dairy operators stay safe when working with manure, specifically monitoring for hydrogen sulfide and staying safe while agitating manure.

THE POWER OF BIRTHDAY CAKES AND LAUGHTER in building a productive team and workforce may be more important than you think.  Studies of emotional intelligence have shown that some of the top-performing leaders are twice as likely to encourage laughter in their teams as their less successful counterparts.  And, when employees are relaxed and feel safe in their work environment, productivity and creativity increase. Read this article  to learn more about how laughter in the workplace and small traditions and gestures like birthday cakes and other recognitions can boost morale and productivity. 
Book Review
 
LOOK: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR IMPROVING YOUR OBSERVATION SKILLS.  Author Jim Gilmore introduces six looking glasses that represent skills to master to enhance the way we look at the world.  This framework will help readers see the big picture, overcome personal bias, better scrutinize numerous details and other skills. Gilmore helps readers grasp the six looking glasses by including helpful everyday examples and practice exercises throughout. Put into practice, this method of looking will help you see the world with new eyes.  Learn more here .
Words to live by...
 
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever."

--- Mahatma Ghandi
A BIG Thank You...    
 
TO OUR PDPW SPONSORS who  support continuous improvement for the dairy industr y. T hey believe in producer leadership and place a high value on lifelong  education for those involved in the dairy industry. We deeply respect their commitment to PDPW and the members we have the honor to serve. 
 
 
 
OUR SPONSORS : Mission, Corporate and Event  
continue to invest and build a strong industry. If you interact with any of these companies, please thank them for supporting PDPW!    If you or a company you know is interested in participating as a sponsor, please contact one of our team members at [email protected] or call 800-947-7379.