Preventing Early Lactation Mastitis
There is nothing more frustrating than having a good (or bad for that matter) cow calve and get clinical mastitis during her period of peak production. Not only is it frustrating, it is also very costly, Jim Salfer, Extension Educator-Dairy, University...

The Effects of Heat Stress on Metabolism and Nutrition Decisions
Heat stress negatively impacts a variety of dairy parameters including milk yield and reproduction and; therefore is a significant financial burden in many dairy-producing areas of the world, writes L.H. Baumgard and R.P. Rhoads. This feature was taken...

West Bound Threat: The Journey of Bluetongue
Emerging in South Africa over 125 years ago, the bluetongue virus spilled into the Mediterranean basin and spread North beyond the tropic and subtropic regions until it reached Europe. Now, BTV6, the EU's sixth strain has been detected in Holland. Are...

Proposition 2 - New Rules on Animal Welfare
Controversial animal welfare legislation was given the green light in California on 4 November at the same time that Barack Obama was being voted into office as the President of the USA, writes TheCattleSite Senior Editor, Chris Harris.

Tackling Dairy Cow Welfare Issues
Laura Boyle and Gabriela Olmos describe their work on elucidating the advantages of grass-based dairy systems from an animal welfare perspective, thereby increasing the competitiveness of the dairy industry. This article, a product of the Irish Agriculture...

Dairy Cow Mortality: A Growing Problem
The Dairy 2007 USDA survey reported that 5.7% of cows died on-farm across the country in 2006, writes Marcia Endres, Extension Dairy Scientist, University of Mississippi.

Dairy Herd Health
Researchers at Moorepark Dairy Production Research Centre have recently started a new herd health programme, which aims to prepare Irish dairy farmers for the biosecurity challenges of herd expansion. This article, a product of the Irish Agriculture...

Is Testing Cows for Disease Resistance a Practical Tool for Managing Health in Dairy Cows?
By Jason De La Paz, Art Donovan, Fiona Maunsell, Maureen Long, Pedro Melendez and Timothy Olson, of the University of Florida, in conjunction with Bonnie Mallard and Armando Hernandez of the University of Guelph. This feature is taken from the proceedings...

High Plains Dairy Conference
By the High Plains Dairy Organisation. This page features the proceedings taken from the High Plains Dairy Conference. To view any of the features please click on the links provided below.

Preventing Social Stress in Cattle in Feed Bunks
By Welfare Quality^®, an EU-funded research project designed to integrate farm animal welfare into the food chain. Animal welfare can be a difficult concept to pin down, and many people have their own personal views.

Learning & Profiting from Animal Welfare Trends
New definitions and expectations surrounding welfare also carry strong value-added opportunities for the livestock industry, says Dr. John Webster in the proceedings from the Livestock...

Reducing Lameness in Dairy Cows
Lameness in dairy cows is one of the issues being tackled by Welfare Quality^®, an EU-funded research project designed to integrate farm animal welfare into the food chain by developing reliable on-farm welfare assessment systems and practical...

Controlling BVDV - First Steps
Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) has a severe economic impact on both dairy and beef businesses, writes Chris Harris, Senior Editor, TheCattleSite.

Use of Vaccinations and Other Veterinary Treatments in Organic Livestock Farming
Farmers (in Australia), who wish to certify their farm’s produce as ‘organic’ must in the first instance meet the requirements of the National Standard for Organic and Bio-dynamic Produce, according to Robyn Neeson, Organic Farming Liaison Officer, at...

Preventing Horn Flies Bleeding Profits
By Chris Harris, Senior Editor, TheCattleSite. Problems with horn flies on cattle in the US have been estimated to cost production losses of $730 million a year.