Herd Management [DA.HM]
MMN November 2023 – The Power of Benchmarking
The importance of understanding the financial data within your business was one of the sessions at a recent dairy conference “Challenging the Norm: Future Dairy Systems”, held by SAC Consulting…
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MMN November 2023 – Investigating the Causes of Poor Milk Production
It can often be the case that cows are not milking according to expectation. While reviewing the current ration is a good starting point along with up-to-date forage analysis, there…
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MMN November 2023 – Optimal Lighting for Dairy Cows
With margins being tight, it is important to consider marginal gains and what can be done to improve your existing system. There is widespread consensus around the beneficial effects of…
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MMN September 2023 – Rumen Audits: Maximising Livestock Health and Performance
Introduction Feeding the dairy cow equates to around 51% of the total cost of milk production (Teagasc, 2023). Therefore, maintaining good rumen health is vital to ensuring optimum feed utilisation…
Read More >Are your cows being fed sufficiently at grass?
As the longest day is now well past and nights are starting to draw in, milk production from grass is likely not as much as you think it is! Cows…
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MMN July 2023 – Small Calf Syndrome (SCS)
SRUC Veterinary Services at St Boswells have recently been investigating the occurrence of unusually small calves from five spring calving suckler herds in the area. The affected herds have either…
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MMN July 2023 – Milk Feeding Management of Dairy Heifer Calves
Maximising growth rates of dairy heifer calves during the milk feeding phase is important to get calves off to a good start in life. While they tend to be fed…
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Milk Manager News May 2023 – Making Smart Culling Decisions
Given the fall in milk prices since the start of the year and input costs still relatively high, it is really important to ensure that every cow in the herd…
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Milk Manager News March 2023 – Future Technology on Show at Low Carbon Agriculture Conference
I recently attended the Low Carbon Agriculture Conference at the NAEC in Stoneleigh Park. There were several technology demonstrations across the conference, where companies presented new and innovative equipment to…
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The Ten In Seven Milking System
New Zealand dairy farmers have been leading the way in flexible milking schedules, with more farmers moving away from twice a day (TAD) milking. Now less than 50% are on…
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