⚾ Run your dairy like a sports team 🐄 Cow adoption 🪪 EID woes

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Run your dairy like a sports team (3 minute read)

Successful sports teams have well-defined roles where everyone knows their position and their responsibilities; the same is true of well run dairies. On sports teams there are three clear roles, with analogous positions on farms: Players are the ones executing the daily tasks and have the greatest effect on the day-to-day results. Coaches are the managers and team leaders that support the players and bring out the best in each of them. General managers are responsible for the long-term strategy and big-picture operations; they may have little role in the day-to-day tasks, but their influence on the overall direction and success of the operation are immense.

Fricke’s insights on practical heifer repro (5 minute read)

Using his “Hierarchy of Repro Needs” (figure in original article), Paul Fricke outlined practical strategies for improving heifer reproduction. He recommends breeding heifers based on weight and the use of a synchronization protocol to improve timing and conception. He also suggests collecting data (e.g. weights) to monitor your heifer program and make adjustments as needed.

Elementary school students adopt a cow (3 minute read)

Students at Ridgeview Elementary School in Michigan have “adopted” a calf through Discover Dairy’s Adopt a Cow program. Students are linked with a calf and given the opportunity to learn about dairy and agriculture throughout the school year, as the calf grows.

ALLFLEX releases new handheld RFID readers (1 minute read)

ALLFLEX has released their APR-series of handheld RFID readers. In addition to reading the RFID tags, these handhelds are able to scan any barcode and link it to the scanned animal.

Cattlement suing USDA over new EID requirements (3 minute read)

A group of cattle industry associations and ranchers are suing the USDA over the rule requiring electronic identification for cattle being transported across state lines. Some of the plaintiffs also challenged the USDA’s previous attempt at a similar rule in 2019. The claim is that the tags are expensive, impractical, and that current disease traceability methods are adequate. Many other industry groups are in favor of the rule changes.

Required EID tags are in short supply (3 minute read)

As the country transitions to 840-series RFID tags for official identification, states are claiming that the USDA has not allocated sufficient quantities of the tags for their needs. The USDA was allocated $15 million and used it to purchase 8 million tags, which it allocated on a percentage-use basis to all states. North Dakota has traditionally needed 125,000 silver tags for interstate movement and 150,000 tags for brucellosis testing, but was given 116,000 840-tags.

USDA will test bulk milk in affected states (1 minute read)

Secretary of Ag Tom Vilsack has announced plans for the USDA to begin testing bulk milk in states affected by avian influenza. The plan is to begin testing raw milk at processing facilities in an effort to “get ahead” of the virus. Specifics of the program haven’t been announced. The question is, why has it taken the USDA so long?

The last of Colorado’s HPAI herds exit quarantine (2 minute read)

Prior to the HPAI outbreak moving to California, Colorado was the most severely affected state. Over the course of six months, more than 75% of Colorado’s herds were impacted by HPAI, the last of which have now been released from quarantine. The state will continue weekly bulk tank monitoring in an effort to readily detect and deal with any new cases that may arise.

National case count rises to 473 affected dairies (1 minute read)

Only California and Utah have reported new cases of HPAI in recent days. California’s case count has risen to 259 affected herds, over half of the 473 herds affected by the outbreak. Utah’s confirmed case count has risen to 13.

CDC urging proactive testing of workers exposed to HPAI (3 minute read)

A recent report reporting asymptomatic avian influenza in exposed workers has shifted the CDC’s guidance to include proactive testing of exposed workers without symptoms. Until now, the workers known to be exposed to avian influenza, but without symptoms have not been routinely tested.

Breeding the largest and most aggressive cattle in the world (4 minute read)

Chianina cattle are a white breed that can grow to 2 meters tall and 1,600 kilograms. The Italian breed were originally bred as draught animals, but are now mainly used for their beef qualities.

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