Robbie Dingeman with USA Today recently reported on a dairy farm that is pampering their cows with water beds. Water beds? Is this for real? In an attempt to treat their cattle better and promote increased milk production, a Hawaiian-based dairy farm is testing out their theory of water beds for their cows and are discovering amazing results. Read the excerpt below and tell me your thoughts. Water beds for cows? Ridiculous or smart?
Water beds for cows. That may sound like a fanciful title for a novel but it describes the latest investment of a Hawaii farm pumping out fresh locally produced milk. Island Dairy owner Bahman Sadeghi explains it this way: “Happy, healthy cows produce more milk.”
So, “a cow that is not at peak health and is in stress is not going to produce as much milk as a comfortable relaxed cow.”
And that’s where the plan for a new 320-cow barn full of waterbeds comes in. The company said the pampered cow approach has produced measurable results.They cited reports that cows with waterbeds installed in their barns are producing 10% to 20% more milk.
It sure sounds like Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica did very well in the cattle market with their acquisition of a portion of Ft. Dodge Animal Health. To tell us about is Tim Bettington, Director Livestock Marketing. I spoke with him at their recent media day in St. Joseph, MO. He says that although BIVI has been a long standing player in the cattle business it has only been in certain segments like the stocker and feedlot sector. But now he says they have great opportunities in the cow/calf and dairy sectors.
According to Tim, the stand out products will be Cydectin, Today and Tomorrow Mastitis Tubes and newer vaccines like Triangle. He says that although there is an integration of staff, customers will see the same look and feel of the products and deal with the same representatives they were dealing with.
With the acquisition of Ft. Dodge Animal Health products and facilities, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica has really expanded their business in the dairy industry. The head of the U.S. cattle business is Colin Meyers. He spoke at the media event I attended in St. Joseph, MO.
Colin says the main thing the acquisition of Ft. Dodge Animal Health means to the company is that they now have a much broader range of products to offer. For the dairy sector they now offer Pyramid, Triangle, Presponse, Today and Tomorrow mastitis therapy, Cydectin and more.
Colin says they’ll have a larger sales and veterinarian force to reach out to customers and a bigger distribution network. They’ve spent the last three weeks bringing in new staff, distributors and others to help enable a smooth transition for customers.
“Neonatal diarrhea is the No. 1 killer of beef and dairy calves less than 60 days old, costing producers an estimated $100 million in annual losses each year,” says Kevin Hill, Technical Services veterinarian for Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health1. “The economic impact is even greater when one considers the effect this disease complex has on infected calves that survive, causing increased treatment costs, increased labor and care for sick calves, decreased performance, and the potential for a lifetime of production losses.”
Beef and dairy producers, as well as veterinarians, can direct their Web browsers to www.guardianvaccine.com for comprehensive information on the cause of calf scours, how best to manage the problem, and the economic benefits of vaccinating cows and heifers with Guardian prior to calving. Visitors to the Web site can utilize the online calculator to determine the cost savings that can be achieved by vaccinating with Guardian each year. The interactive tool, which includes beef and dairy adaptations, allows users to apply specific herd information to determine the return on investment Guardian vaccine can provide.
Visitors to the Web site also can submit questions to animal-health specialists about calf-scours management. In addition, they can watch video clips from recent RFD-TV LIVE episodes and learn about preventing and managing neonatal diarrhea. (more…)
Posted: October 27, 2009 at 10:24 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. (BIVI) has closed a deal with Pfizer to acquire a significant portion of the Fort Dodge Animal Health business. The acquisition, which includes products in the U.S., Australia, Canada and South Africa, as well as two manufacturing and research facilities located in Fort Dodge, Iowa, significantly increases the size of Boehringer Ingelheim’s companion animal and cattle portfolios and strengthens the company’s position as a leading vaccine supplier.
“We’ll be expanding our business significantly, in fact, doubling our sales in the United States,” said BIVI president George Heidgerken. “The product assets we’ve acquired from Fort Dodge are a broad range of strong brands in the cattle vaccine business. This is part of our long term strategy to improve our product offerings and our capabilities for the U.S. cattle producers and the U.S. cattle market.”
The cattle vaccines included in the acquisition include the Triangle®, Pyramid®, and Presponse® vaccine lines. Pharmaceutical products being acquired include Cydectin® (moxidectin) for cattle and sheep as well as Polyflex® (ampicillin sodium). The dairy portfolio includes the key brands Today® and Tomorrow®.
Listen to or download an interview with George Heidgerken here:
Posted: October 26, 2009 at 4:55 am
By News Editor
The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), with support from Dairy Management, Inc. (DMI), formally launched the National Dairy FARM Program: Farmers Assuring Responsible Management at a news conference during the 2009 World Dairy Expo, unveiling key components of the voluntary, nationwide program designed to bring consistency and uniformity to animal care through education, on-farm evaluations and objective third-party verification.
“Dairy farmers are passionate about the care they provide to their animals. The National Dairy FARM Program takes that producer passion and quantifies it to tell the story of dairy animal care to our customers and consumers,” said Jamie Jonker, vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs at NMPF. “This is a very thorough program that was created with input from all sectors of the dairy industry, including producers, veterinarians and other animal care experts. It includes current best practices, innovations and advances in technology.”
The dairy industry has an excellent track record of responsible management practices, said Jonker. “This program simply offers producers an avenue to demonstrate and validate their commitment to doing what’s right,” he said.
Posted: October 21, 2009 at 7:59 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
A new Pfizer Animal Health was unveiled last week as Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth, including its subsidiary Fort Dodge Animal Health, was completed.
The acquisition of many of Fort Dodge’s U.S. products allows Pfizer Animal Health to greatly diversify its U.S. portfolio, as well as broaden its offering in all animal health segments. Pfizer Animal Health now offers an enhanced portfolio in beef, dairy, and companion animals, as well as a redefined product line for swine, equine and poultry.
In the beef and dairy animal category, Pfizer is adding FACTREL® (gonadorelin hydrochloride) and the pioneer line of SYNOVEX® implants to its current cattle portfolio that includes DRAXXIN® (tulathromycin), DECTOMAX®, EXCEDE® (ceftiofur crystalline free acid), EXCENEL® (ceftiofur hydrochloride), BOVI-SHIELD ® GOLD, LUTALYSE® (dinoprost tromethamine), ORBESEAL®, and SPECTRAMAST® (ceftiofur hydrochloride). Pfizer Animal Genetics also continues to explore opportunities to apply genomics technology to livestock health and management solutions.
With today’s economic situation in the dairy industry, it is very wise for producers to do all they can to protect the investment they have made in their animals.
At World Dairy Expo, I talked with Lance Fox of Alpharma about maximizing disease protection in the first critical weeks of a calf’s life.
“AS700, or Aureo S 700®, is a management tool, a medication that goes in the feed,” Lance told me. “Transitioning calves, weaning calves, can be a very tough time in their lives, lot of stress going on. It’s a tool to use to help those calves get through that transition a little smoother, maintain their weight gains and ultimately their performance.”
Aureo S 700® is a combination of Aureomycin® (chlortetracycline) and sulfamethazine. Lance says this product has been on the market for 35 years, and Aureo itself is about 58 years old. “So the products have been around a long time and they work just as well today as they did when they were first released.”
What about return on investment? “If you look at the cost of feeding the product for a 28-day feeding period, it’s about $2.50 per head for the entire period,” Lance said. Keeping the calves healthy, preventing disease is the key and that helps the animals perform better and make more milk for the dairyman.
Listen to an interview with Lance below or watch this YouTube interview from World Dairy Expo:
Going back to basics and taking care of the “walking fermenter” was the subject of Juan Tricarico’s presentation at the Global Dairy 500 Conference. I just love that term and Juan explains it in my interview with him.
Looking into the future for the dairy farmer Juan says dairy farmers need to be efficient with nutrient use. He believes there needs to be a change in the way we feed dairy cows and that includes better use of forage. He says that a lot of producers are already feeding healthier diets that sustain reasonable milk levels. He does recommend that the forages farmers are working with are the best they can possibly have.
To tell dairy farmers attending the Global Dairy 500 Conference what to “leave in and what to take out” was Mike Hutjens, University of Illinois. Mike is very passionate about the diary business and so enthusiastic that our translators had to get him to slow down so they could translate for our international audience.
Hutjens addressed feed questions and says he boiled the answers down to a few main points or suggestions. To start with he suggests looking at forages and forage quality. Then he suggests maintaining milk production and not giving up milk production. He says to look at feed additives since many are very cheap right now. He says the price of milk may come back short term and it’s important to have the right team on the field using a football analogy. When it comes to nutrition he says that when you go with the premise that you can’t give up milk, then you have to look at substitute feed choices that may be more economical.
When it comes to questions from the attendees here he says he gets asked a lot about new corn varieties and chopping the silage and how long to store it. He says producers are asking how to make things work more efficiently for them where they are. Looking ahead he still sees some tough times but with some bright spots like reasonable feed costs.
Providing the first remarks on the program for the Global Dairy 500 Conference was Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder and President, Alltech. The theme of his opening remarks was to answer the question, “Is there a future for dairy in these turbulent times?”
Dr. Lyons addressed the real challenges in the dairy business internationally. The Conference has attendees from all over the world and they all nodded in agreement as he made these opening remarks. He pointed out how volatile markets and prices are having a serious impact on the industry right now. So education and efficiency become extremely important and that’s part of the purpose of the Conference itself. So when it comes to the “crisis” Dr. Lyons challenged attendees to see it as a time of opportunity and character.
Looking to the future the key is efficiency and that will come about from the use of new technology. Besides efficiency he urged attendees to focus on more lactations per cow; quality in Production systems; more education; looking for Branding; traceability and to be conscious of the environment. I love his description of the dairy cow as a “walking fermenter.”
Posted: September 30, 2009 at 7:38 pm
By News Editor
Do you use sand as bedding material on your dairy farm? If you are reusing the sand, then Pro-Act Biotech has a product just for you! SandSmart™ is a biological product that allows dairy farmers to reuse their sand bedding after a quick, convenient and effective cleaning. The quality and quantity of recycled sand are important factors to consider.
SandSmart™ is a biological product designed specifically for sand-bedded dairy farms and is best used in a flush or flush flume manure system. The application is simple: The product is applied periodically to the last lagoon from which dairy draws their flush water.
The key to cleaner sand is cleaner flush water. SandSmart™ provides the dairy with superb flush water which cleans the sand with ease. Cleaner sand provides a healthier environment for the cows.
Posted: September 26, 2009 at 10:07 am
By Amanda Nolz
Another interesting article by Charlotte Johnston with TheCattleSite. Titled, “Practical Aspects of Feeding Grass to Dairy Cows,” this article details the use of grass based systems in a low cost feeding method for dairy producers. Check it out below…
Research that has been carried out by Teagasc at Moorepark Farm, Ireland have shown that fresh grass is one of most productive and viable feeds. Complete grass systems are operated in New Zealand and Australia – should other countries be adapting these grass management techniques to increase milk yields. From the 43rd University of Nottingham Feed Conference, TheCattleSite junior editor Charlotte Johnston.
Why use a grass based system?
Grass based systems are known to:
-Lower the cost per unit of milk production
-Have superior milk composition, such as greater fatty acids
-Have more sustainability with regard to economic, social and environmental effects
-Compared to other feed options, Pat Dillon, head of Moorepark Dairy Production Research Centre believes that good grassland management is not only the most viable but also the most productive. The table below shows the relative cost of grass compared to silage and concentrates. As can be seen from the research, feeding concentrates is 3.5 times more costly than applying good grass management.
After all the classroom presentations today we got to tour the Pioneer Livestock Nutrition Center. We couldn’t take photos inside but afterward I interviewed our tour guide, Scott Dennis, Pioneer Technical Services Manager, Forage Additives. Cindy took the photo of me interviewing Scott who is pictured on the left.
Scott says the facility was originally built in 1993 to measure differences in what makes silage more digestible. They do swine digestibility studies, sheep and beef cattle feeding. One of the things they do that you won’t find in a commercial lab is that they grind samples down to a 6 millimeter size instead of 1 millimeter. The grind they use is more closely tied to the size of what the animal is actually chewing and therefore creates more accurate results. They also do 16 tests for every sample instead of 1 and use multiple animals and take an average to get a much more meaningful result. He says you won’t find this in any other University or commercial lab.
The man who got us started here at the Pioneer Hi-Bred Forage Media Day is Robin Newell. Cindy spoke to him about the “long look.” He says the Pioneer long look has four components that include: “We strive to create the best products;” “We deal honestly and fairly with our constituents;” “We represent our products vigorously;” “We help our customers get the most from our products.”
He says the focus today is on the development of corn silage and alfalfa and inoculants like their new 11GFT. He also mentioned their focus on animal welfare since they keep many animals here at the Livestock Nurition Center. He says they have an animal welfare committee that even includes “local clergy.” He says that person helps provide a good moral and ethical backbone to the committee.
Posted: September 9, 2009 at 9:13 pm
By News Editor
Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is now armed with the first large-animal MRI ever at an academic institution, a move that will allow veterinarians to tackle research questions and greatly impact both animal and human health.
The magnetic resonance imaging machine, which recently became fully operational and has a 70-centimeter opening that is nearly 50 percent larger than the standard MRI, will allow doctors and researchers at the college to analyze larger animals such as horses and cows. Just as important, said diagnostic imaging section chief Anthony Pease, will be the ability to study and interpret the images they receive.
“MSU’s new MRI is one of only three in the country and the first at an academic institution,” Pease said. “We will be able to look critically for the first time at many animal processes.”
The new machine, Pease said, will give veterinarians new insight into how illnesses and injuries affect animals.
“The main benefit is to look at the spinal cord and brain better than we ever have before,” he said. “CT imaging has been able to provide information about bone, but now we can image muscle, brain and spinal cord without invasive procedures.
“Also, we will be able to look at how the animal brain works, how animals sense pain, and how their minds work when they sleep.”
An example of a specific ailment that will be focused on is arthritis, which many animals face. Pease said for the first time, veterinarians will be able to see articular cartilage in animals to look for early signs of the crippling disease. He added the MRI will continue to give veterinarians valuable insight into treating human ailments as well.
“Everything we learn about animals, we will compare to what is known about people with the hope to treat both humans and animals with similar diseases,” he said.
Construction began in January 2009 on the $2 million project, which has been in the works for four years. Now that it is operational, MSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital offers every possible imaging technique, said hospital director Pat LeBlanc. That includes the new MRI, ultrasound and CT imaging, fluoroscopy and nuclear medicine.
The first presenter this morning at the Novus International Media Day was Stephanie Gable, Marketing Manager, Ruminants. Stephanie gave us the lowdown on how Novus is helping dairy producers achieve “oxidative balance” in their herd. They’ve found that just like with human beings, when dairy cows come under stress from oxidation they become less productive. So to prevent it and maintain a healthy balance they recommend the use of antioxidants like AGRADO Plus feed ingredient.
They feel so strongly about the importance of dairy nutrition that they’ve created a new website on the subject where you can learn a lot more about this oxidative balance issue.
You can listen to my interview with Stephanie here:
Novus International brought a group of agricultural journalists into their St. Charles, MO headquarters today. We were greeted by Scott Fleetwod, Executive Director, Global Marketing and Products. I sat down with him right after his opening remarks to discuss what he hopes we accomplish here today and tomorrow.
The company has a significant investment in the dairy industry which we’ll learn more about in tomorrow’s session and I’ll have a follow up post from it. I did appreciate one remark Scott made in our interview about how the carbon footprint of the dairy industry is so much smaller than it used to be. The fact is there are so many fewer cows in production today. But you sure won’t hear that reported very often.
He reminded us that the company was a spinoff from Monsanto back in the mid 80’s and has grown tremendously since then. Since many of their products are targeted to animal nutrition and health he says that he believes there will be recovery in the animal industry starting with beef and even in dairy within the coming year. The company also see great opportunities to improve animal food production in developing countries where the bulk of the hungry and starving people are today.
While we’re here we’ll get to tour this new company headquarters facility which was built with sustainability in mind. Sustainability is a key work here at Novus.
I’m also happy to report that Novus will be a partial sponsor of our coverage of this year’s World Dairy Expo!
Here is our next installment in a series of online Dairy Producer Short Courses from our sponsor, Fort Dodge Animal Health.
Our topic this week is BVD VACCINE: “PRIMING” IMMUNE RESPONSE.
Fort Dodge Animal Health’s Mark van der List, DVM, technical services consultant, explains some of the current research suggesting you can get a better vaccine response by leading a pre-breeding modified-live with a dose of killed vaccine during the dry period.
WHEN TYPE II BVD EMERGED in 1993, killing half the cows it infected in some herds, it reminded all of us about the importance of vaccinating to help prevent BVD outbreaks. Today we’ve entered a new phase of BVD control, one aimed at preventing clinical disease, as well as stopping the virus by preventing Persistent Infection.
It is commonly thought killed vaccines have been pretty effective in limiting death, abortion and other losses, while modified-lives may have some additional advantages in preventing PIs. By using a killed vaccine like TRIANGLE® followed by a modified-live vaccine like PYRAMID,® a producer has a convenient, effective program to break the BVD cycle.
Posted: September 3, 2009 at 3:13 pm
By News Editor
The following news release has been issued by AgriLabs:
AgriLabs, a longtime advocate of producer, industry and governmental efforts to strengthen U.S. food safety, is proud to announce the availability of America’s first conditionally licensed E. coli O157 vaccine for cattle.
E. coli O157 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause intestinal upset, dehydration, and kidney failure. People with weakened immune systems, children and the elderly are the most susceptible to food-borne illness caused by E. coli.
These bacteria live in the intestinal tract of normal, healthy cattle, but don’t cause disease in these cattle. During processing, the bacteria can find their way into ground beef, and if improperly cooked, a serious outbreak of the disease can occur when the food is eaten.
Recent media attention has focused on governmental and industry efforts to develop science-based strategies to reduce the prevalence of the E. coli O157 in beef and dairy cattle.
“The new E. coli O157 Bacterial Extract from Epitopix is the first O157 vaccine conditionally licensed for sale in the US, and represents a significant breakthrough,” reports Charlie Higdon, AgriLabs business unit manager. “The SRP O157 vaccine is the first and only immunological weapon available to the dairy industry to battle against this significant food safety concern.”
“We are confident that the E. coli O157 SRP vaccine will play an important role for dairy producers and veterinarians as they work together to implement E. coli O157 food safety controls.” Higdon added.
AgriLabs is the sole marketer of Epitopix’ first major vaccine Salmonella Newport Bacterial Extract, utilizing the exclusive SRP® technology. Since its launch in 2004, this groundbreaking vaccine has been used in millions of U.S. dairy cattle to battle Salmonella, a significant health concern for dairy cattle, as well as a human food safety concern.
Robbie Dingeman with USA Today recently reported on a dairy farm that is pampering their cows with water beds. Water beds? Is this for real? In an attempt to treat their cattle better and promote increased milk production, a Hawaiian-based dairy farm is testing out their theory of water beds for their cows and are discovering amazing results. Read the excerpt below and tell me your thoughts. Water beds for cows? Ridiculous or smart?
It sure sounds like 
With the acquisition of Ft. Dodge Animal Health products and facilities, 
The 
The acquisition of many of Fort Dodge’s U.S. products allows Pfizer Animal Health to greatly diversify its U.S. portfolio, as well as broaden its offering in all animal health segments. Pfizer Animal Health now offers an enhanced portfolio in beef, dairy, and companion animals, as well as a redefined product line for swine, equine and poultry.
At World Dairy Expo, I talked with Lance Fox of 
Going back to basics and taking care of the “walking fermenter” was the subject of Juan Tricarico’s presentation at the Global Dairy 500 Conference. I just love that term and Juan explains it in my interview with him.
To tell dairy farmers attending the Global Dairy 500 Conference what to “leave in and what to take out” was Mike Hutjens, University of Illinois. Mike is very passionate about the diary business and so enthusiastic that our translators had to get him to slow down so they could translate for our international audience.
Providing the first remarks on the program for the Global Dairy 500 Conference was Dr. Pearse Lyons, founder and President, Alltech. The theme of his opening remarks was to answer the question, “Is there a future for dairy in these turbulent times?”
Do you use sand as bedding material on your dairy farm? If you are reusing the sand, then 
After all the classroom presentations today we got to tour the 
Scott says the facility was originally built in 1993 to measure differences in what makes silage more digestible. They do swine digestibility studies, sheep and beef cattle feeding. One of the things they do that you won’t find in a commercial lab is that they grind samples down to a 6 millimeter size instead of 1 millimeter. The grind they use is more closely tied to the size of what the animal is actually chewing and therefore creates more accurate results. They also do 16 tests for every sample instead of 1 and use multiple animals and take an average to get a much more meaningful result. He says you won’t find this in any other University or commercial lab.
The man who got us started here at the Pioneer Hi-Bred Forage Media Day is Robin Newell. Cindy spoke to him about the “long look.” He says the Pioneer long look has four components that include: “We strive to create the best products;” “We deal honestly and fairly with our constituents;” “We represent our products vigorously;” “We help our customers get the most from our products.”
The first presenter this morning at the 
Here is our next installment in a series of online Dairy Producer Short Courses from our sponsor, 
The following news release has been issued by AgriLabs: