A rapid increase in feed consumption is desired after calving to help cows obtain the nutrients needed to support high milk production. Increased or more consistent day-to-day feed consumption could also help minimize the incidence of ketosis and displaced abomasum.

Neonatal diarrhea is a major source of economic loss to the cattle industry, being the leading cause of death in dairy and beef calves. Financial losses occur not only from mortality, but also from the cost of medication and labor needed to treat sick calves.

Dairy producers are paid for milk, milk protein, and milk fat, and the protein and fat contents of milk are the major determinants of the manufacturing properties of milk. Supplemental fat in the diets of cows has increased both the yield and percentage of milk fat but often has decreased milk protein percentage. Supplementation of fat to the diet has decreased intakes of dry matter and crude protein, which might decrease the availability of amino acids for synthesis of milk protein.

Raising calves for herd replacements has become an economic issue on contemporary dairy farms. Some producers are choosing to send their calves off to heifer ranches.

Whole milk consumption in the US has declined dramatically in the past 20 years. This has been attributed to health concerns about the content and composition of milk fat.

Greetings from the Department of Animal Sciences!

Dairy producers are often thinking of and planning new construction or remodeling possibilities for the dairy facility. As current facilities wear out or expansion is needed, producers have the opportunity to improve the old with newer technologies.

Six proteins produced in milk represent over 90 percent of the total protein in milk.

Selection is the most important tool available to improve genetics of a dairy herd. Over the years, the amount of genetic information available to use in selection decisions has increased significantly.

Thirty-nine (14 primiparous and 25 multiparous) Jersey cows were assigned to one of two treatments 2 wk prior to their expected calving date. Treatments were diets either supplemented with yeast cultures (YC) or not supplemented with YC (control).

Mastitis is the most costly infectious disease on U.S. dairy farms. Even on well-managed farms, at least 1/3 of cows experience clinical mastitis each year, with most cases caused by environmental pathogens (especially coliform bacteria and streptococci other than Streptococcus agalactiae).

The importance of adequate passive transfer of colostral immunoglobulins (antibodies) for calf health is well recognized. Calves depend entirely upon absorption of immunoglobulins (particularly IgG1) across the intestine during the first day of life to establish protective immunoglobulin concentrations in their blood.

Prior to the approval of PosilacTM, many producers anticipated that initiation of rBST injections would be timed after the occurrence of some specific physiology thresholds, such as when cows were gaining body condition or weight, when midlactation had occurred, or after cows had become pregnant.

Yeast products are a commonly fed probiotic but little is known about their quantitative effects on digestion. Some studies have reported that some yeast products increased milk yield, milk fat percentage, or body weight; however, other studies found that yeast products had no effect on any of these factors.

A decrease in urea nitrogen in plasma (PUN) and milk (MUN) suggests more efficient utilization of protein, because high PUN and MUN concentrations reflect losses of nitrogen. Concentrations of PUN and MUN have been suggested to be useful tools to measure the efficiency of utilization of dietary protein.

Brown midrib corn (BMR) is lower in lignin content (about half of normal corn silage), and 6 to 8 percentage units higher in total plant digestibility.

Dairy producers and veterinarians have many decisions and dilemmas facing them when considering therapeutic regimes for post partum uterine infections. The main decision is Ato treat or not to treat.

a-Lactalbumin (a-LA) is a major whey protein of bovine milk and is essential for the biosynthesis of lactose in the mammary gland. Within the mammary epithelial cell, a-LA complexes with membrane bound ß1,4 galactosyltransferase to form the enzyme lactose synthase.

Intussusception is the invagination of one portion of the gastrointestinal tract into the lumen of an adjacent segment of bowel, and is a frequent cause of intestinal obstruction in cattle.

The goal of the project was to calibrate manure applicators, both dry and liquid, on 10 Stephenson County livestock farms and have the manure analyzed for nutrient content.

To optimize profits in the feed cost arena, two key factors must be managed: increase income (milk yield and components) and/or lower feed costs.

The 1997 growing season marks the fourth consecutive year for monitoring first cutting alfalfa quality in Southern Illinois.

It is often relatively easy to identify completely infertile bulls because their sperm usually are considerably less motile or have abnormal shapes. However, identifying bulls with somewhat below average fertility (subfertile bulls) or individual subfertile semen collections is typically more difficult because the defects are not always obvious.

The dairy industry continues to present challenges to producers as we move into the 21st Century. Can the Illinois dairy herd compete and position itself for the year 2000 and beyond?

Body condition score (BCS) has become recognized as a valuable tool to monitor the energy reserves of the dairy cow.

Producers desiring high quality alfalfa know very well the importance of timing the first cutting. Being able to predict the pre-harvest quality is an important management factor.

Institution of teat dipping and dry cow antibiotic therapy has allowed many U.S. dairy farmers to control contagious mastitis caused by Streptococcus agalactiae and Staphylococcus aureus, and to maintain high quality milk with a low somatic cell count.

Inherited deficiencies of Factor XI, a blood clotting factor, have been documented in humans, dogs, and cattle. The bovine disorder has been known since 1969 when it was discovered in Holstein cattle in Ohio.

Active development of a milker robot system is being conducted in Japan and western Europe, but not in the U.S. Are we missing something that could be important? The U.S. dairy industry is very different from both Japan and Europe.

Calves are able to absorb immunoglobulins for a limited time after birth. Failure to absorb sufficient immunoglobulin results in low serum concentrations of immunoglobulin and increased risk of disease and mortality.

The close-up dry cow period starts 21 days before calving. If this period is less than 10 days, 24 percent of the dry cows will not received the specific ration for the minimum five days needed to achieve desired benefits.

Methionine has been identified as one of the most limiting amino acids for the synthesis of milk and milk protein by dairy cows fed diets based on corn.

The ideal bedding for dairy cattle have pondered dairy producers for generations. Traditional organic bedding materials(straw and sawdust) have been costly and provide an ideal environment for growth of bacteria.