Give Her a Break

 Cows need a lot of rest to ruminate-there’s a lot going on there. In fact, they need 12-14 hours of rest a day even though they actually only sleep-at least what we consider sleep-for about 30 minutes. If a cow doesn’t get her proper rest, she her...

Cold Weather Remedies

Everyone was complaining about the cold last week. Sub zero temperatures for nearly two weeks isn’t just a polar vortex- it’s just plain miserable. No matter how we try and make sure the cows are kept warm and dry-there are consequences to prolonged cold...

Why are they Loose?

Cold temperatures, or should I say frigid temperatures create a lot of challenges out on dairies. A lot of times you just go into survival mode. On top of everything else, sometimes the cows get loose for seemingly no good reason. Although the loose manure could be...

5 Things NOT to Cut

 When the price of soy skyrockets, as it has been doing right now, it usually pulls the other protein prices up with it-including hay.  After reducing the cost of your existing protein sources, a lot of folks start to pick and chose who gets the expensive feed-and who...

Indicators of Alfalfa Damage

After last year, you’d think we’d all be experts at spotting damage in the alfalfa crop-at least what it looks like to have it totally killed out. But damage that can reduce yields (not a total kill) are more subtle to spot. Here are some signs: 1. Late...