Can Technology Improve Your Calf Monitoring Program?

Sensor technology provides calf raisers with an additional tool that can help them detect health issues before clinical signs develop.

Vaccinating dry cows with the right vaccines at the right time will help maximize cows’ antibody production to coincide with colostrogenesis.

Sudden bloat in pre-weaned calves can be a devastating setback that is often fatal. Observing the “4 Ts” of consistent calf feeding can go a long way toward preventing this costly problem.

Early life management of pre-weaned calves has life long production consequences. Here’s how to make sure your calf monitoring system sets calves up for success.

When it comes to laboratory testing, we do it all – blood, milk, feed, forages, tissue, ear notches, fecal, urine, bedding, towels, and DHIA milk samples. Testing services include culture, PCR, ELISA, NIR and MALDI-TOF testing.

Use PCR for rapid Mycoplasma mastitis detection. Tailor your testing strategy with your vet's advice. Learn more about PCR at The Dairy Authority Lab.

Mycoplasma poses a major mastitis threat. PCR tests offer rapid detection, crucial for managing its spread. Efficient herd management and prompt PCR testing help safeguard your dairy.

The Feed Lab at The Dairy Authority is now equipped to serve our client dairies with more powerful information and efficient service through our partnership with Dairyland Laboratories.

Raising preweaned calves at specialized facilities makes sense for a number of reasons, but getting them there and settling them into their new homes must be a very intentional process.

When submitting samples to the lab for testing, take the time to do it right. Use these tips to make sure your samples are collected and shipped correctly every time.

The Dairy Authority offers a full menu of pregnancy testing options for cattle and other species, including several lab-based tests that can keep reproductive programs on an efficient path.

Technology has greatly improved our ability to monitor individual cows to catch problems early, intervene before clinical signs appear, and improve our overall care of dairy cows. In a larger view, herd rumination time is a technology-enabled metric that can change the way we manage dairy cows for the better.

This chronic, contagious disease can rob dairies of profit and slow genetic progress. But new testing options are making Johne’s disease control more strategic and precise.

Johne’s disease is widely regarded as a “dairy” disease, but beef cattle are equally susceptible to it. The consequences are a bit different for beef herds, but ultimately, it’s a disease that can severely affect a herd’s bottom line.

Technology offers us powerful tools that can help improve cow health and animal welfare, plus improve efficiency, sustainability and profitability of dairies. Each producer must choose the ones best suited for their operation.

Cow-monitoring technology has improved our ability to monitor and care for cows. Here’s how to implement in the fresh-cow pen.

Wearable technology for cows does not replace the value of trained human observation. In fact, the best fresh-cow monitoring programs use a combination of both to improve animal welfare, reduce treatment and culling cost, and optimize milk production and cow longevity.

Use these steps to collect an aseptic milk sample anytime you need to culture or test a milk sample.

The first case of HPAI in dairy cows occurred March 2024 in Texas. The following month a Colorado dairy tested positive for it. Here’s what we have learned this past year about helping dairy cows successfully recover from bird flu.

Planning and preparation can help minimize the impact of HPAI on your dairy. Here’s what we have learned since bird flu first arrived in Colorado in April 2024.

‍At The Dairy Authority Lab we strive to offer all of the types of milk testing that you may need to help manage your dairy. 

Examining lungs from the outside in can assess future productivity of individual calves and evaluate broader calf management systems.

Our goal is to provide top-notch training for your dairy. The Academy is a web-based platform that uses short, informative videos where our veterinarians explain and demonstrate the essential tasks of animal care. The training is provided in both English and Spanish.

Positive feedback should include both praise and constructive criticism. Employees need and want both in order to meet job expectations, learn new skills and feel appreciated.

Employees who work in an environment that provides positive feedback are more likely to report feeling satisfied in their job and tend to stay and grow in your business.

New research examines the impact that management decisions and social environment have on transition cows’ health, milk production, reproduction and culling. 

We have used selective dry cow therapy in herds averaging over 100 lbs. of milk/cow/day with no detrimental effects.

Doing so can reduce cost, minimize risk for antibiotic residues and help preserve the power of antibiotics for when we really need them. 

While good pay may help attract new employees, it takes more than just pay for them to stay long term at your dairy.

New research estimates that 12 diseases that impact dairy cows cost producers worldwide $65 billion each year. That is just the cost of lost milk production, reduced fertility and culling.

New research shows that monitoring rumination time during the week before calving can help identify which cows are more likely to develop health issues during the transition period, produce less milk, have problems breeding back and eventually be culled.

We provide quick, accurate results that you can depend on. Dry matters, harvest panels, nitrates and NIR analysis – we do it all in-house, six days a week.

Does it matter if cows are carrying extra condition at dry-off? New research suggests it does.

In addition to milk samples, couriers also pick up BVD ear notches, blood for ELISA tests, feed, tissue, bedding, towels, and DHIA samples, and they can deliver sampling supplies to your dairy. 

The people who operate a dairy day-to-day are the backbone of the business’ success. Here are 7 ways to help retain them long-term.

A minimally invasive procedure can tell us a lot about the nutritional status of your cows.

Not all fats are created equal. The three individual fatty acids that are most abundant in milk fat — palmitic, stearic and oleic — are also the three best individual fatty acids to supplement in the cows’ ration to improve cow performance and health. However, the key to success is knowing the correct blend of these fatty acids to use at different stages of lactation.

New dairy research evaluated several fatty acid blends in the diets of mid-lactation cows to determine the optimal ratio that helps high producing, mid-lactation cows maximize production performance. 

New research shows that postpartum health records used with activity monitors to detect estrus can help identify which cows will most likely need targeted reproductive interventions to get bred back.

New dairy research shows that positioning fans above freestalls to deliver cooling air flow at cow resting height can provide substantial benefits.