Cattle
Waste Not – Want Not: Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Opportunities Create New Revenue Streams and Increase Sustainable Practices
Is it economically viable to create energy from waste at your location? For dairy farmers and others, the answer is increasingly ‘yes’. In recent years, major players in the dairy industry have announced sustainability initiatives promoting anaerobic digestion (AD) of manure to create biogas for renewable energy on the farm. Led by the Innovation Center for US Dairy, the 2008 US Dairy Sustainability Initiative presents a roadmap to increase business value for the dairy industry supply chain while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gases.
Bedding Recovery Unit from Bauer Group Turns Cattle Manure into High-Quality Bedding Material
Now, manure is more than an important source of plant nutrients—it can also be recycled into comfortable bedding for livestock with the patented Bedding Recovery Unit (BRU) from FAN Separator and the BAUER Group.
Improving Potassium Supplementation in Dairy Cow Diet With a Protected Potassium Carbonate
Anhydrous potassium carbonate (PotCarb) with chemical formula K2CO3 is utilized in dairy cattle diets for increased milk production and dry matter intake, by providing the necessary nutritional requirements for potassium without negative chlorides (Cl-) or sulfates (S-). Potassium is especially important during lactation and heat stress.
Helping Cows Manage Heat Stress Saves Real Money
More than ever, dairy producers need to save money wherever they can. Especially during the summer months, cows under heat stress can cost producers big bucks. Research has shown that milk production losses alone range from $1.50 to $3 per cow per day.
Replacement Heifers
For the last five years, production of milk replacement heifers has been on the rebound in the United States. But US born replacements may decline in coming years, for the same reason they’ve been rising, Canada, long prohibited from supplying the US dairy cow market, is back in business. Imports of Canadian breeding cattle were barred on May 20, 2003, the day the Canadian Food Inspection Agency revealed a native-born cow had tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease.
Surviving High Feed Cost
The current economic downturn has presented serious challenges for many Americans. Dairymen have certainly not been exempt. Rising grain prices have inflated the cost of many traditional feeds and spurred the conversion of grasslands to row crop farming. Competition with recreational users for “marginal” land has further reduced pasture availability. More recently, high feed costs have been coupled with lower milk prices, further squeezing producers.
Nutrition in Dairy Reproduction
A lot goes into achieving a successful calving rate in your herd-including, of course, what goes into your cows. University of Minnesota Extension dairy nutritionist Noah Litherland says one of the biggest challenges in dairying is getting cows back into positive energy balance after calving; he says strong feeding strategies for both dry and fresh cows are part of the solution, and it's important to ensure there's adequate macro- and micro-minerals in the diet.
The U.S. dairy industry is in the process of figuring out its carbon “Hoofprint”
Coops and producer groups are teaming up with others up and down the dairy marketing chain, in an effort to gauge the industry’s impact on the generation of greenhouse gases thought to contribute to global warming. Part of the program involves a comprehensive survey being sent to about 8,000 dairy farmers, which asks questions about practices like on-farm energy use, feeding practices, and pasture, manure and water management.
