The Latest Thinking on Dry Cow Management

Abstract

We continue to look for methods to increase productivity and hopefully, profitability. We place a lot of emphasis on feeding various products such as fat, bypass protein and niacin to increase milk production. Rarely do we put any emphasis on the profitability of the total herd. We do not consider the impact of metabolic or reproductive problems on total yield and profitability; this only becomes important when it becomes extreme. We need to look carefully at the hidden costs of subclinical metabolic and reproductive problems. We are sure that you have seen the sporadic milk fever, DA, ketosis, off feed, cow not coming into heat, metritis, cow not settling, and cow with off cycles. The use of good record analysis systems will allow you to see that, combined, these become a significant part of the costs of your client's operation. If you calculate the lost milk it will be even more. Our challenge is to develop strategies to minimize the occurrence of these problems in the herd.