Livestock Newsletter
SDSU Extension publishes the Livestock Newsletter to provide South Dakota producers, industry professionals and consumers with timely research-based recommendations.
Dairy Cattle
All Dairy Cattle Content
Keeping Your Vaccines Viable
Vaccines are a vital part of keeping all livestock healthy. Vaccines help in the prevention of disease, which results in less utilization of antibiotics due to fewer sick animals. A valid vet-client-patient relationship will help you as you select the vaccine of choice for your livestock health program.
Ensuring Quality Milk Replacer Through Proper Storage
Milk is the source of nutrients in newborn mammals. When mother’s milk is not available, a milk replacer is utilized. To ensure the proper growth and health of the young newborn, it is critical provide a quality milk replacer and proper storage of this product is a key component for success.
Storing Wet and Modified Distillers Grains
One of the primary challenges for livestock producers in the coming months could very well be feedstuff cost and availability due to the fact that the corn planted acreage and crop progress are both well behind normal benchmarks. One opportunity that might help cattle feeders proactively secure feed supplies would be storing wet or modified distiller’s grains now to be fed at a later date.
Understanding and Mitigating Heat Stress in Young Dairy Animals
We often don’t focus as much on heat stress in young dairy calves and tend to focus more on cold stress. However, it is just as important and producers or calf raisers should have a plan in place to help mitigate heat stress in these animals also.
Dietary Carbohydrates in Heat-Stressed Dairy Cows
Rumen acidosis results from an excessive acid load in the rumen not neutralized by salivary or feed buffers. Changes in physiology, metabolism, and behavior of heat-stressed cows increase their susceptibility to both sub-acute (SARA) and acute acidosis.
Dealing With Heat Stress in Dairy Cows
Alleviating heat stress is critical to milk production. Heat stress from high environmental temperatures can be compounded by mistakes in managing and feeding cows. Water is your first concern during periods of high temperatures.
Water Importance in Lactating Dairy Cows
When considering the importance of water in lactating cow diets, we need to remember that milk is 87 percent water, and its consumption is directly correlated with milk production and feed intake. Water also makes up anywhere from 55 percent to 70 percent of the body weight of a lactating dairy cow, depending upon the phase of the lactation cycle.
Ditch Hay: Harvesting, Quality, and Feeding
Using ditch hay to feed cattle is a common practice across the U.S. It provides livestock producers with a source of readily available forage, which can be very useful, particularly during feed shortages.
SDSU Extension Hosts 2019 Forage Field Day in Beresford August 7
June 24, 2019
August 7, 2019 SDSU Extension will host a Forage Field Day for livestock producers, agronomists and industry clientele interested in producing and storing high quality forages.