For your dairy business... 

MANAGING FEED REFUSALS IS A BALANCING ACT.On one hand, you want to provide enough feed to your cows throughout the day to promote maximum feed intake and increase milk production, while on the other hand, you want to minimize waste. Alanna Kmicikewycz, Pennsylvania State University, points out that increasing the amount of dry matter refused by one percentage point often costs 5 to 6 cents per cow per day, which amounts to about $20 per cow per year. Noting that leaving the feed bunk empty is not the solution to cutting feed costs, Kmicikewycz advises dairy producers NOT to remix the refusal into the new TMR batch for the lactating cow group or deliver the new TMR over the refusals. "Refusals should never be fed to pre-fresh or fresh cows," she interjects. "Cows at this stage are vulnerable to metabolic diseases and feeding refusals that are variable in nutrient content or contain mycotoxins can impact the cow's immune system and further exacerbate health problems for both the cow and the calf." One do-able approach, she says, is to feed the refusals to older heifers, steers or other beef cattle. A more extreme alternative-" and may be the best in some situations," she says-is to consider refusals "true waste" and discard all refusals.

WITH SIGNIFICANT METABOLIC STRESS and altered immune function often synonymous with the transition from late gestation to early lactation, Kansas State University researchers assessed the effects of supplementing a yeast product derived from Saccharomyces cerevisiae on immunity and uterine inflammation in transition cows. Their study, which involved 40 multiparous Holstein cows, focused on the 21 days before expected parturition to 42 days postpartum. Divided into four groups, the cows were fed rations top-dressed with a product containing yeast culture plus enzymatically hydrolyzed yeast at the rate of 0, 30, 60 or 90 g/d throughout the experiment. Their findings suggest that "supplementation with YC-EHY enhanced measures of humoral and mucosal immunity and modulated uterine inflammatory signals and mammary gland health in transition dairy cows." You can check out the KSU research online in the May 2015 issue of Journal of Dairy Science.

GOOD THINGS HAPPEN WHEN DIGITAL DERMATITIS AND TECHNOLOGY MEET. Dairy producers now have help in managing highly prevalent, infectious digital dermatitis, thanks to a new app. Developed by Dörte Döpfer, PhD, DVM, Tom Bennett and Marlène Tremblay, DVM, University of Wisconsin - School of Veterinary Medicine, and licensed by Zinpro Corporation, the dairy industry's new DD Check App can help producers accurately identify and quickly record digital dermatitis lesions. After lesions are recorded, producers can generate a report that includes a list of animals requiring follow-up, as well as graphs to monitor lesion trends over time and signs for chronic cases. The app also includes access to a statistical DD Infection Model, which can be used to help predict potential DD outbreaks. You can get the new DD Check App tool for free on iPhone and iPad devices through the App Store, searching for "Zinpro." You can check out DD Check App online by clicking here.

LESSEN SALMONELOSIS IN PRE-WEANED DAIRY CALVES by feeding Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation products (SCFP). At least that's what Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine research indicates. The blinded study involved calves two to eight days of age that were fed SCFP or an SCFP-free Control for two weeks before and three weeks after experimental challenge with Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium. When both groups were compared, calves fed SCFP had fewer bouts of diarrhea and fever and their rumens were more developed. Salmonella intestinal colonization was reduced in SCFP-fed calves and Salmonella fecal shedding disappeared at an earlier stage in these calves. Possibly as a direct result of diminished intestinal colonization by Salmonella, Salmonella-infected dairy calves were significantly less likely to exhibit clinical signs-fever and diarrhea-associated with salmonellosis when fed SCFP. The results of this study are consistent with a previous study in which feeding SCFP led to an improvement of gastrointestinal health in pre-weaned dairy calves naturally exposed to Salmonella. You can read the Iowa State research team's protocol and findings in Veterinary Microbiology, Volume 172, Issues 1-2, August 6, 2014, issue.

WHILE CALVES MAY GROW FASTER BEFORE WEANING ON HIGHER RATES OF MILK OR MILK REPLACER, a newly published study supports previous research findings that size differences tend to disappear after weaning and milk production in first lactation. The more recent research-a large study from the University of Guelph in Ontario that appeared in the January issue of the Journal of Dairy Science involved 152 calves fed either four (4) liters or eight (8) liters of whole milk in two feedings each day. And, while the calves fed eight liters grew faster for the first four weeks of life, researchers found that average daily gains were not different pre-weaning in weeks 5 through 8. They did find, however, that calves fed the higher rate of milk ate less calf starter and drank less water. Post-weaning, all heifers were fed the same diets. The research shows that the calves fed the higher rate of milk maintained an advantage in body weight and withers height, while the calves on the lower milk feeding rates with greater ad lib grain intakes grew faster. When the calves were measured at four months of age, differences in withers height disappeared. At 12 months of age, heifers in the two groups had similar body weights. When all heifers were treated the same and were followed through their first lactation, both groups were equal when it came to age at calving (24.6 months), post-calving body weight (1,306 lbs.), total milk, milk fat and milk protein production were equal for both groups. Milk production for 305 days was 19,195 lbs. for the low milk fed group and 19,140 lbs. for the high milk fed group. The researchers concluded that there was no advantage to feeding higher levels of milk on overall growth and production.  

IF YOUR CORN WAS PLANTED IN MID-APRIL, Liz Bosak, outreach specialist, Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin, says you may observe some injury to plants. "Depending upon the herbicide, injury can occur after a pre-emergence application when corn is germinating in cool, wet soils," Bosak states. She warns, however, that "other environmental factors can mimic herbicide injury symptoms such as corn emerging in crusted or compacted soil" and that "injury will not always be apparent aboveground." The good news is that you can get an idea of injury of risk by examining the herbicide tables in "Pest Management in Wisconsin Field Crops" via the university by clicking here. Plus, Wisconsin Crop Weed Science has a redesigned online diagnostic tool to help you out. The revamped tool asks three basic questions: 

1. When do injury symptoms appear? 
2. Are both broadleaves and grasses affected or just one group? and 
3. What are the symptoms, and where do they occur?

This tool can be accessed online at or you can go to WCWS's main page, click on "Resources" and then click on "Tools."

DON'T LET TICKS TAKE A BITE OUR OF YOUR WORK OR FUN. With tiny deer tick nymphs lurking around from now through July and debilitating Lyme disease having been reported in Wisconsin, here are a few tick/Lyme disease prevention tips:

• Use a repellent with DEET on your skin and treat clothing, socks, shoes and gear with permethrin; 
• Wear light-colored clothing so ticks will be easier to spot; 
• When in tick areas, tuck pants into socks, pull back hair and wear a baseball cap; 
• Check daily for ticks, which can hide in skin folds and hair; 
• Shower soon after being in wooded or grassy areas; and 
• Routinely check pets for ticks.