Herd turnover rate reexamined: a tool for improving profitability, welfare, and sustainability.

Longevity and herd turnover rate are becoming common topics of discussion as the dairy industry strives for continuous improvement in efficiency, profitability, animal welfare, and environmental sustainability. Having the most productive animal fill each slot on a dairy makes strategic replacement and the resulting herd turnover an important tool for producers. Dairy operations can be considered to have slots available to be occupied by cows.

Dairy production sustainability through a one-health lens.

Dairy production provides high-quality, healthful nutrients to people on a planet soon to be inhabited by over 9 billion people. In doing so, it is ever more important to continuously improve the care of dairy animals, safeguard the environment we all share, and reliably produce nutritious food while maintaining the economic viability of the people working in dairy agriculture. In this paper, we review some associations between dairy consumption and human health along with the many interconnections between people, dairy animals, plants, and our shared environment.

Temporal kinetics of bovine mammary IgG secretion into colostrum and transition milk.

Neonatal calf survival and health is predominantly dependent on sufficient consumption of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and the resulting transfer of passive immunity (TPI). In this study, we investigate the potential for continued IgG secretion and temporal kinetics of mammary IgG output in sequential milkings performed at 0, 4, 16, 28, 40, and 52 hr postcalving in Holstein dairy cows. For colostrum (0 hr), we also scrutinize the relationships between IgG concentration, volume, refractometer readings (˚Bx values, Brix) and concentration of sugars (lactose and glucose).