Dairy Industry Flashcards
From where do Holstein cows originate?
The Netherlands
What is the life cycle of a dairy cow?
herd is dynamic
All stages of a dairy cow’s lifecycle require?
- feed
- water
- finances
- health management
What are the milestones in dairy cow calving & lactation?
- calve at ~22-24 months of age
- breeding from ~60 days in milk (DIM)
- lactation until ~60 days before calving
- dry period ~60 days
Why is body condition scoring important in dairy cattle?
- method for determining body reserves
- important management tool to assess: nutrition, reproduction, PPD, milk production
- corrective action if BCS < 2
What are the different ways to house cows during lactation?
- free stalls: most common; NA & Europe
- tie stalls: welfare concerns, becoming unpopular w/ producers
- pasture: NZ
- bedding packs: low initial cost, high maintenance
What must a milking machine do?
- minimize trauma to mammary tissue
- minimize pathogen spread btwn animals
How are cattle milked?
- under a vacuum
- pulsation prevents damage to the teat end
What types of milking systems are there?
1: Tie stall facilities: milk in stall
2: other facilities: milk in parlour
- static facilities (herringbone parlours)
- rotary/carosel facilities
- robotic milkers
Number of daily milkings?
- cows choose to be milked ~2.8 x per day
- if you set up the system to the needs of the cow, they will produce more milk
where does the milk go?
- bulk tank storage @ < +4 C
- pickup every other day in SK (each pickup tested for antimicrobials, water, other contaminants)
- more frequent on larger facilities (or some milk directly into the truck)
What is important about the dry period in dairy cows?
- to prepare for parturition
- cell turnover occurs in the mammary gland
- colostrum production
- typically 60 days in length, but old research into shorter dry periods is flawed
What is important about shorter dry periods?
- due to high milk production
- increased milk production in lactation before dry period
- no demonstrated adverse effects if > 40 days
What is the problem with drying cows off?
- stopping milking while cows may still have high production
What are the two ways of drying cows off?
- abrupt: stop milking immediately, discomfort w/ milk building in the udders, really reduces risk of infection (esp if udder is plugged), better option in dairies that dont have their mastitis squared off completely
- gradual: switch from 3x to 2x to 1x per day, better in dairies that have their mastitis squared off
How do dairy producers get the least costs with the maximum margin?
- efficiency maximizes margin
- but cutting costs often decreases efficiency
- as herd size increases, expenses increase, but so does income
How to set operational goals in dairy farming?
