For both naïve and latently infected animals, vaccination is the gold standard for IBR control. Vaccination boosts immunity protecting naïve animals from disease and reducing shedding of virus by latent carriers. It should be used alongside other management measures, in particular biosecurity. There are a number of different types of IBR vaccine available. Choice dep...
With an eye on future opportunities for five children actively involved in the dairy operation, the Koskamps are now milking 110 Mediterranean water buffalo to go along with the 130 Holsteins. RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin caught up with their son, Philip Koskamp, last week at the Canadian Dairy XPO at Stratford to find out what it’s like to milk water buffalo and how ...
Laura Daniels, who farms near Dodgeville, told WUWM-FM that her farm has been working to determine better breeding choices. Daniels’ farm evaluates butter-fat and protein in the milk to select “the mothers of the next generation of cows” that make the best quality cheese. Luke Lisowe and his parents own about 800 cows at their farm near Malone in Fond du Lac County. L...
Brushless motor technology has allowed the firm to push up the power from the 24V system used on its 5m gates to the 36V needed to run the wider 7m span. This eliminates the need for mains power in remote locations, says the firm. They should also be much easier to operate than two smaller gates together, which require a central stop and aren’t as secure because they ...
If a dairy operation is looking for ways to optimize their margins, they should look at their forage harvest processes. From farm to “fork”, the quality of forage starts long before it’s mixed into a precision ration -- creating the need for better testing before every acre of forage is harvested and stored. Nearing harvest, forage dry matter (DM) changes daily, esp...
As a pet owner, I always want to ensure I’m giving my dogs their best life. Part of that means being aware of how extreme weather affects them throughout the year. Recently, the onset of winter weather and snow has prompted me to consider cold weather safety tips. Understanding your pets’ cold tolerance A pets’ cold tolerance depends on their coat, size, age and over...
If this is a white-faced cow, I would bet on squamous cell carcinoma (cancer eye) of the third eyelid. If you are thinking of keeping her, your veterinarian needs to confirm this. The third eyelid is an extra "lid" all nonprimate mammals have. It's on the lower inside of the eye and can move from that point diagonally upward. It helps keep the cornea clean (think "win...
Below, Charlie Neale, veterinary surgeon at Shepton Vets, Somerset, takes a look at some of the most common diseases and health issues in suckler cows around calving time and explains how to identify, prevent and treat each condition. Milk fever What is it? Milk fever – or hypocalcaemia – is an imbalance or a low level of calcium in the blood. It can be coupled wi...
With a 4.75cu m wide body capacity, the new addition to the Kidd Bale chopper range, the 475T TC Bale Shredder and Straw chopper can handle 2 round bales, or 2 big square bales (80cms x 120cms) side by side. A smart conveyor conveys the crop material automatically to the hydraulically adjusted and pivoting comb. The smart conveyor reduces process time, hang ups and ev...
The latest case is in a commercial layer flock in Riverside County. This finding is part of an outbreak in southern California that began in May 2018 in backyard exhibition birds. Human exposure Virulent Newcastle disease is not a food safety concern. No human cases of Newcastle disease have ever occurred from eating poultry products. Properly cooked poultry products...
For some reason, cows enjoy rotating milkers. No one really knows why, but cows are just more relaxed going round and round. Taking the concept of the rotating milker a step further, a relatively new product has come to Canada with Abbotsford’s Vyefield Farms installing the sixth GEA DairyProQ milker in the world (first in North America) in April, 2016. The Kielstra f...
With this in mind, Dairymaster has launched a new range of its Swiftflo Revolver parlours to suit all types and size of dairy farm. The company claims it is the market leader in UK and Ireland for rotary systems, with the new entry level milker, Swiftflo Performance, providing an option for farmers who want the right sized rotary parlour for their farm, with the optio...
Imported by Opico, the trailed Verti-Mix 1201 has a mixing capacity of 12cu m and requires a tiny 60hp to run. Standard specification of the 1201 includes the Digistar EZ2500 weighing system, an enclosed hay ring, direct hydraulic control and a single-door discharge. A twin-door discharge and various sizes of discharge elevators are available as optional extras, wi...
The new Tomahawk Chief 8555 now has a removable screen which has an increased area of 20% on its predecessor, while there is a choice of screen sizes when buying a new machine. In the chopping department, consistency of cut is down to an integral scissor action, which allows a variety of different lengths including chopping for animal feed, cubicle bedding, shredding ...
Studies show respiratory disease in cattle – also known as BRD, shipping fever or pneumonia – may cost the U.S. cattle industry more than $2 billion annually. Management techniques can offset much of this cost and having a good vaccination program can maintain the health of a calf all the way through the production system. “A vaccine can cost more than $3 per head, ...
Some of the primary reasons reported for this change in milking technology include: 1) reduction in labor, especially hired labor, 2) more flexible life-style, and 3) potential improvement in cow heath and milk yield. At present (September 2018), we have about 2140 dairy farms in Ohio and 52 farms with AMS, with about 143 AMS on Ohio farms. Thus, about 2.4% of the dairy ...
For those who haven’t harvested Growers with crops still to harvest should assess likely plant dry matters, Mr Groom says. “In some areas plants have got very dry due to the speed of crop dry-down and insufficient chopper capacity,” he says. “Normally dry matters increase 2-3% per week, but in September it has been 5% or more a week due to the lack of rain and dry...
Safety first “Before you approach the horse, evaluate your surroundings, especially if the horse is in obvious distress. Is the area safe for you to be in?” said McCoy. A downed power line, for example, is extremely dangerous. In such situations, contact the appropriate emergency authorities immediately instead of intervening yourself. “After you have determined t...
The software company previously developed soil health and conversation planning software. The acquisition will be part of the Sustain division, which aims to be an industry-leading, comprehensive soil health platform. Since 2016, Agren software has been used in the Sustain suite of tools. The acquisition will further the integration and development of tools for Land...
There isn’t a Canadian water buffalo herd any further west than Coleman Meadows Farm in Port Alberni. Given that the herd travelled all the way from Ontario in 2011, the animals have quite the background, and their owners Jennifer and Russell Dyson are glad they were able to give them a new life. “We always wanted to do dairy, but we couldn’t afford the quota system,”...
mall-scale animal agriculture is looking treacherous for those of us who dedicate our livelihoods to it. A myriad of challenges and concerns are growing within our community of small farmers about the feasibility of providing well-raised meat animals to a growing client base on a small scale. As we battle within the current system and framework, many of us are fearful...
New technology is an important tool in food safety, and now it’s being used to measure animal well-being. Tyson Foods says it will be using video surveillance to help improve efforts to monitor bird welfare. The company currently employs a team of animal well-being specialists across all its beef, pork, and poultry operations as part of its commitment to sustainable foo...
AgriProtein, San Francisco, California, has set up camp in North America with the aim of building 20 fly farms in the United States and Canada in pursuit of its global targets of 100 fly farms by 2024 and 200 by 2027. The world’s biggest fly-farmer and first commercial-scale insect meal producer, AgriProtein is building a global network of insect protein factories mass-p...
HandsOn Gloves are a revolutionary concept that reaches far beyond the traditional curry combs, mitts, shedding blades/blocks, metal bristle brushes, and any de-shedder on the market today. Wet or dry, they won't slip or fall off while providing you and your animals with a more thorough and enjoyable bathing and grooming experience.
Around 1-in-10 piglets in commercial farms die from being crushed by their mothers die, with the number even larger on organic farms. Last year, this resulted in the death of 13 million piglets in the US and 116 million globally, according to Iowan agtech startup SwineTech. Eight-five percent of these deaths occur in the first four-to-six days of piglets’ lives. This ...
REMINGTON, Ind., Feb. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Livestock Facilities, LLC has introduced Wrap-the-Equipment™, a patent-pending facility and construction design approach that is positioned to revolutionize the future of cage-free egg production. Retail and consumer demand for cage-free eggs is at an all-time high. Within the next ten years, it is estimated that 70...
45 million chickens in NL 330 million chickens in EU 3200 million chickens worldwide That’s the amount of one day old male chickens (cockerels) that are being discarded each year because they don’t have any significant value in the food chain. We think that’s a real shame and want to change this. In Ovo has been developing a solution to this problem since 2011. Our te...
Cutting edge technology in the agriculture industry is out of the board room, and in the pasture. In today's tech-savvy world, Bluetooth technologies now allow data to be gathered and stored, with the touch of the phone, because … there's an app for that. An up and coming agricultural technology company has created a two-part ear-tag system that collects animal data at a...
That grazing is more “natural” (and so better) is a silly assumption. None of our domesticated beasts have led a “natural” life for thousands of years now and are evolved into creatures that are as dependent on us and our care as we are on them. If we use as a measure of “happiness” or “contentedness” the milk-yield of each cow and its susceptibility to illness, indoor h...
Swine production has experienced many important and critical advancements over the last few decades; however, facility performance, from a ventilation perspective, has not yet reached its highest level. The indoor environment can help ensure that the advancements made in nutrition, genetics, animal health, etc., are not marginalized. Engineers can use the ventilation ...
THE DAIRY FARMER Gianantonio Locatelli climbed up the steel ladder and peered over the brim of a large corrugated vat, about the size of a very deep above-ground swimming pool. “It’s full!” he exclaimed, with warbling joy. “It’s beautiful!” The vat was full of liquid cow dung. I handed my phone to Locatelli’s friend, the architect Luca Cipelletti, and climbed the ladd...
A low-pressure sprinkler system should not be confused with the standard fogging systems. While fogging systems deliver a fine mist, low-pressure sprinklers produce a larger water droplet that does not hang in the air but drops straight to the floor. As the droplets hit the birds, they are stimulated to stand up and migrate to feed and water. The settings in the con...
As a dairy farmer and a dairy cattle nutritionist, Laura Daniels felt she had to speak up after a report that went viral focused on why mislabeled Skittles that had spilled from a truck on a Wisconsin country road 12 days ago were heading to a dairy farm to be used as animal feed. “What shocked me were the questions asked by people who I thought should know the answer...
Researchers led by French Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE) reported that methane concentrations in the air began to surge around 2007 and grew precipitously in 2014 and 2015. In that two-year period methane concentrations shot up by 10 or more parts per billion (ppb) annually, compared with an average annual increase of only 0.5 ppb duri...
As an architect, I’m often asked to envision the “barn of the future”. I reply that the future is here, considering the availability of robotic milking stalls, herd management software, cow and milk monitoring systems, along with a myriad of other solutions. The most value for dairy producers is realized, however, when those innovative tools are integrated into facilitie...
We all need a good back scratch every once in a while, and cows are no different. In their natural environment, cows will rub up against trees and bushes. Around the farm, they will use other objects like walls, water troughs and fences. While using a makeshift back scratcher may satisfy their itch, the risk of injury to your animals and damage to your facilities only...
