On this edition of Forage Forum, Kyle Whitaker, Pioneer Hi-Bred marketing manager for forage additives, highlights the Pioneer fiber technology platform. Whitaker discusses the benefits of using a crop-specific inoculant during an interview with Chuck Zimmerman at the recent Farm Progress Show.
Listen to the podcast here:
Forage Forum on Crop Specific InoculantsTo see all archived Pioneer Forage Forum podcasts, click here.
A brand new feedpusher named Juno helped Lely, Inc. win Best Outdoor/Intermediate Booth at World Dairy Expo this year.
I talked with Peter Langebeeke, president of North America operations for Lely, about the new feedpusher and some of the company’s recent accomplishments. “Lely started out 60 years ago making farm equipment on the farm of the brothers van der Lely,” said Peter. “Ten years ago we brought the robot to the U.S. and we started at the Knigge Farm in Wisconsin.” Lely held an event at the Knigge Farm in September to celebrate the milestone and to highlight the latest in robotic milking technology ― the Lely Astronaut A3 Next.
Juno the Feedpusher is the newest robotic technology introduced by Lely and they were very pleased with all the attention it was getting on display for the first time at World Dairy Expo. “Everybody realizes that feed pushing is important if you want to make sure that cows have feed in front of them all the time,” Peter said.
Listen to my interview with Peter from World Dairy Expo here. Peter Langebeeke Interview
Watch Juno in action here:
2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
Thanks to our World Dairy Expo sponsors:
When the exhibit judges saw what BouMatic had on display at the 2010 World Dairy Expo, it was no contest who was getting the Best Large Booth award.
The Robotic Post Milking Spray System was quite an attention-getter at the expo. “After the cow is milked, this system will apply teat dip automatically and consistently as the cows come through the system,” says BouMatic’s John Mansavage, who says the machine can take the place of three full time employees on a commercial dairy.
They still have a few tweaks to do before the system becomes commercially available, so John didn’t give a time frame for that, nor would he say how much it might cost, but he says it will be well worth it in terms of saving labor costs.
Listen to my interview with John from World Dairy Expo here. John Mansavage Interview
Watch the system in action here:
2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
Thanks to our World Dairy Expo sponsors:
At World Dairy Expo this year, Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition was talking with producers about income over feed costs and how they can improve that number.
“Income over feed costs is a very simple measure,” explains Senior Manager, Technology, Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition, Dr. Elliot Block. “It’s how much money you’ve made for your milk, total revenue, minus what the feed cost was to make that milk.”
Increasing the amount of income for milk might be best accomplished by raising the components, such as milk fat, by adding a few cents to the diet. “Today, where milk fat is almost equal to milk protein in price, which we’ve never seen before, you get a .1 change in milk fat without changing volume, that’s a fairly large increase in income per hundredweight of milk.”
One way for dairy producers to boost milk fat production by increasing dietary cation-anion difference (DCAD) with a high-quality potassium source. To learn more about balancing diets for optimal DCAD levels, Arm & Hammer has developed a new DCAD calculator, which can help determine ration DCAD and provide guidelines for appropriate DCAD levels based on stage of lactation. The DCAD calculator is available at www.AHDairy.com.
Listen to my interview with Elliot from World Dairy Expo here. Elliot Block Interview
2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
Thanks to our World Dairy Expo sponsors:
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) announced the launch of its Foundation for the Future website.
The website equips dairy producers and industry stakeholders with interactive tools and resources, including a margin protection calculator, that will educate them about the dairy policy reforms and programs proposed in the Foundation for the Future plan.
FutureForDairy.com features a news and resources section with the latest dairy policy articles and downloadable materials about Foundation for the Future, including the complete plan narrative and frequently asked questions (FAQs). The FAQs section offers a library of common questions associated with Foundation for the Future, and allows visitors to submit questions to be answered by policy experts.
Especially valuable for dairy producers, the margin protection calculator will help them determine an appropriate coverage level for the supplemental margin insurance under the program’s Dairy Producer Margin Protection Program. Producers can input their annual milk production, and select the percentage of base milk production that the program will cover, along with the added coverage level they prefer,
generating scenarios of how the Dairy Producer Margin Protection Program will benefit their individual operations.
“We’re excited to introduce FutureForDairy.com to members of the dairy industry, as we feel it offers more details about Foundation for the Future and helps people with some of the concepts they might not have previously understood. The margin protection calculator especially helps dairy producers visualize the impact the Dairy Producer Margin Protection Program will have on their individual operations in terms of coverage options,” said Jerry Kozak, NMPF President and CEO.
The mission of Foundation for the Future, as envisioned by NMPF, is to provide the dairy industry with policy programs that dramatically improve the historical approach embodied by current programs, and foster a more economically-viable and secure future for dairy producers, milk processors, and other industry stakeholders.
Milk proteins could be more effective than carbohydrates at aiding fluid retention after exercise, according to new research from the British Journal of Nutrition.
The study suggests that a replacing 25 grams per liter of carbohydrate with milk protein in standard carbohydrate-electrolyte sports drink can improve the rehydration ability of the drink by improving fluid retention.
“The results of the present investigation indicate that, when matched for energy density, fat content and electrolyte concentration, a carbohydrate–milk protein solution is better retained than a carbohydrate solution after exercise-induced dehydration,” wrote the researchers, led by Dr Gethin Evans from the Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK.
Rehydration after exercise has been well investigated, with previous research showing that for complete recovery of fluid balance, both the volume and composition of a rehydration fluid are vital.
It is known that the volume of the fluid consumed must be greater than the volume of sweat lost, and account for ongoing – post exercise – fluid losses. However, for the effective, long term, maintenance of fluid balance the composition of the fluid is also of critical importance.
On top of the addition of electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, to rehydration fluids, the consumption of solutions containing protein has been suggested to offer advantages in terms of fluid retention. With previous research demonstrating that low-fat milk containing proteins is brought about better fluid retention than either a carbohydrate–electrolyte sports drink or water.
The new study investigated these findings in more details, examining the effects of milk proteins on rehydration after exercise in the heat.
The results observed that a solution made up of 40 grams per litre of carbohydrate and 25 grams per litre of milk protein was offered better fluid retention than a 65 gram per litre carbohydrate solution – as a post exercise rehydration drink.
The researchers stated that their research suggests that “gram for-gram, milk protein is more effective at augmenting fluid retention than carbohydrate.”
Source: British Journal of Nutrition
“Effect of milk protein addition to a carbohydrate–electrolyte rehydration solution ingested after exercise in the heat”
Authors: L.J. James, D. Clayton, G.H. Evans
One of the titles that two-time World Dairy Expo Supreme Champion Harvue Roy Frosty holds is “Best Udder” and she is certainly well-endowed, as well as being very productive. At five years and seven months, in 365 days, she produced 44,713 pounds of milk with a five percent test, 2,222 lbs of fat, a 2.8 percent protein at 1,248 lbs.
In a Google search for Frosty, I came across a blog post written last year when she won Supreme Champion. It was written by “Midwest Refugee” who ruminates about all things Wisconsin and is not at all shocked that “the supreme cow of all the galaxies just happens to be from Wisconsin.” Couple of funny lines from the post about Frosty as seen from someone outside the dairy industry, commenting on Frosty’s official portrait from the Harvue Farms website:
1. Why is the cow’s tail groomed to look like a French poodle? Whoever teased that cow’s tail is welcome to come over and do my hair ANYTIME….
2. Is anybody else completely creeped out by its udder? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve milked my fair share of cows before (at the Milwaukee County Zoo), but for some reason the thought of touching this cow’s udder seems…I dunno…dirty to me or something. Look at it! …
3. What’s the deal with the skin and bones look? Did the cow swallow a tripod or something? Is the photo airbrushed so that the cow looks super-skinny for some celebrity cow magazine cover??…
4. Why is the winner of this contest called the “supreme champion”? What did the cow have to do to achieve this title? Cage fight other livestock until there was just one left standing? It makes the cow sound like it’s some sort of intergalactic bovine champion from the future.
Be sure to check out the photos and video on the World Dairy Expo website – great stuff!
My photos from expo can be found here: 2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
Thanks to our World Dairy Expo sponsors:
According to the official attendance figures from World Dairy Expo, there were 65,136 visitors to this year’s event, including 2,468 from 87 countries. Among those international visitors were a delegation from China hosted by Novus International, shown here attending a seminar sponsored by Novus on feeding lower protein rations. They also were able to make a few other stops during their visit to the United States, courtesy of Novus.
“We are Novus International and we take the international part very seriously,” said Stephanie Gable, Global Market Manager for Ruminants with Novus. “We’re in over 90 countries and we’re strong in those other countries understanding what those local needs are. And as a native Missourian, I also understand the importance of agriculture here in the United States and whenever you take people from other countries to show them what we’re doing, you realize what proud heritage we have.”
Stephanie just returned from a tour of five different countries in Eastern Europe with a group called Global Dairy Farmers. “When you’re traveling through Poland and East Germany, and Romania and Hungary, and you’re walking on dairy farms that not very long ago were communist, state-run dairy farms, you realize that the agriculture today in those countries is not where we are in the U.S.,” says Stephanie. “Getting a chance to see other parts of the world was a wonderful experience, but it makes you appreciate what you have right here in your own backyard.”
She notes that increased global demand for dairy products continues to create growth both for the export market here at home and for production in other countries.
Listen to my interview with Stephanie from World Dairy Expo here. Stephanie Gable Interview
2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
Thanks to our World Dairy Expo sponsors:
Oakridge-Bahler Farm is one of the top-producing and most successful dairies in the Eastern U.S. The third-generation dairy owned by Vern, Dave and Dan Bahler has earned numerous awards for its progressive practices, including Connecticut’s ‘Dairy of Distinction’ award and the New England Green Pastures Award.
Under the direction of Dave Hartford, dairy operations manager, Oakridge-Bahler Farm has doubled in size over the last ten years. The herd currently stands at 1,875 cows with 1,600 in the milking string. Hartford attributes much of the dairy’s success to its colostrum harvest management program designed to reduce calf scours. “We’ve been involved for a number of years with a product called Scour Bos, marketed through Novartis, we’ve been using it about 12 years,” Dave said during an interview at World Dairy Expo. “We vaccinate the mothers before they calve and the immunity for scours comes through their colostrum.”
They harvest the colostrum, refrigerate it within ten minutes, and throw it out if it is not used within three days. “We just have general commonsense animal husbandry, things that work good for us,” Dave says. He adds that Oakridge-Bahler is up to 800 female calves a year and last year they only lost five.
Listen to my interview with Dave from World Dairy Expo here. Dave Hartford Interview
2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album
Thanks to our World Dairy Expo sponsors:
A new dairy MOOseum has opened in Montgomery County, Maryland! The MOOseum showcases the history of local dairy farming and will host a grand opening celebration on Saturday, October 23, 2010.
The historic 1930’s dairy barn is all that remains of the James and Macie King farm-stead, one of hundreds of successful family farms that flourished in the Washington, D.C. far suburbs to serve the Nation’s Capital. Its rolling acres were converted a decade ago into the South Germantown Recreational Park, where over a million visitors now annually picnic, exercise, and take advantage of numerous sports venues. More than 300 dairy farms once operated in Montgomery County, MD throughout most of the 20th century. The MOOseum is designed to educate current and future generations on the source of their food, especially the story of milk production, helping to bridge the gap between producer and consumer.
Educational features are included for all ages, including a life-size milking Holstein cow, a scale model replica of the King farmstead, as well as exhibits and tours related to the production, processing, and marketing of milk and milk products. The MOOseum collection includes milk coolers, cream separators, milk bottles and cans, butter churns, milkers, and other dairy industry artifacts.
The MOOseum was purchased by the King family farm in the late 1960’s, in preparation for the proposed regional park. The dairy farm continued to operate until 1998, when changes in the Park’s master plan called for all farmstead buildings, including the dairy barn, to be demolished. Community members worked hard to save the farmstead, and the effort resulted in saving the King dairy barn. In 1999, knowing the dairy barn would remain standing, a descendent of the King family organized a volunteer committee to develop a dairy museum later named the MOOseum. Planning, design, and permits took nearly ten years, until construction crews began work in October, 2009. The MOOseum opened on an interim basis in June, 2010.
Source: The Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission (MNCPPC)
