“Modifying the rumen to reduce the risk of acidosis” was the title of Prof. Sergio Calsamiglia’s presentation at the Dairy Solutions Symposium. He works in the veterinary school at Universitat AutÒnoma de Barcelona. He says research shows that acidosis is not just a pH problem but related to the type of feed you’re using. There is evidence that although using … Read More
Incidence and Impact of SARA
Prof. Joachim Kleen, Alta Genetics Germany, told us all about SARA in dairy herds at the Dairy Solutions Symposium. SARA is sub-acute ruminal acidosis and becoming a real problem. Understanding it better and what is being done to reduce or control it was the subject of his presentation. As most dairy farmers might think, proper nutrition and animal care is … Read More
Rumen Health Subject of Dairy Solutions Symposium
The Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech, was opened by Prof. Wouter Hendriks, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. There are 250 attendees at this year’s event being held at Utrecht University. The overall topic for the Symposium is rumen health in dairy cows. I spoke with Wouter just before we got started. He says that the good rumen health will result … Read More
Preview of Dairy Solutions Symposium
The presenters for the Dairy Solutions Symposium 2010, sponsored by Alltech, got together for dinner this evening. I’ll be interviewing most of them over the next couple days. To get a preview of what this conference is all about I spoke first with Sylvie Andrieu, European Ruminant Technical Manager, Alltech. She says that the initial idea for this conference came … Read More
Dairy On Display In Utrecht
Hello from Utrecht, Netherlands where I’ll be attending the 2010 Dairy Solutions Symposium, sponsored by Alltech. Just got in this morning and after a short nap went for a walk. Right away I came to an outdoor market and was very pleased to see dairy products on display. For lunch I had a really good brie and vegetables sandwich. I … Read More
Covering 2010 Dairy Solutions Symposium
This is where I’ll be this week. The fifth annual Dairy Solutions Symposium put on by Alltech and the Centre for Animal Nutrition will take place this week and I’ll be there to cover it. It will be held at Utrecht University on Thursday and Friday. You can look for the first posts sometime on Thursday. Rumen health is of … Read More
Reducing The Cost Of Producing Milk
Alltech just held its annual International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium and I was able to attend once again. Discussion dinners are an important part of the program and I attended the dairy discussion. There I met Kevin Tuck, Global Ruminant Product Manager, who has been with the company for about 20 years. He says that the dairy business outlook … Read More
Global Dairy 500 Conference Conclusion and Wrapup
Wrapping up the Global Dairy 500 Conference was Dr. Pearse Lyons, Alltech President. Dr. Lyons summarized many of the presentations with a series of take home messages. The focus was on the future of dairy farming, the integration of a brand, methane production, cow comfort, tourist attractions, education, milk marketing with nutrition also being a key topic. Additionally, a strong … Read More
New Technologies Hold Promise For Dairy Farms
The final panel discussion at the Global Dairy 500 Conference focused on future technologies in the dairy industry. Presenting were Matthew Smith, Alltech and Dr. Karl Dawson, Alltech. I spoke with Dr. Dawson immediately following his remarks. He says some of the technologies in methane recovery offer a new cost saving line for the farmer by producing bioenergy. Feed management … Read More
5 Things To Do Differently In Dairy Today
What are the 5 things you would do differently in dairy today? That was the question our opening panel on the final day of the Global Dairy 500 Conference had to answer. Amazingly they each seemed to have very similar answers. I spoke with panelist Nigel Lok, Nigel Lok Family Trust, South Africa. He says they milk about 700 cows. … Read More