This is not a fun topic. Normally, we are trying to maximize milk production while maintaining good animal welfare. However, in these unprecedented times (thanks COVID-19), one may need to limit or reduce the volume of milk leaving the farm. The Penn State Extension, Cornell PRO-DAIRY, and University of Wisconsin Extension teams have discussed options for moderating milk production. These are summarized below.

Reduce animal numbers – heifers

While this wouldn’t have an impact on milk production, it would reduce costs. How many heifers do you really need? If your reproductive management is good, the heifer herd size can be at 7 per 10 head in the milking/dry herd. Don’t pour resources into calves that had respiratory issues; cull them early before they cost you any more money. Calves with lower genetic potential would also be candidates for leaving the farm as calves.

Reduce animal numbers – cows

What cows are good candidates for culling? Chronic mastitis cases, those with more than three services, poor first-lactation performers (How likely, really, are they to get better?), and lame cows (if low body condition, let them put on some weight) should be on the list.

Reduce milk production – dry off cows early

Identify pregnant cows with higher cell counts. Keep and feed separately early-dried off cows from closer-up cows in order to control body condition. Be sure there’s space for them, maybe summer pasture?

Reduce milk production – switch from 3x to 2x milking

Start this process with later-lactation and pre-peak (<30d) cows. Try not to mess with cows at peak production.

Reduce milk production – diet changes

Increase forage component of the diet (dictated in part by forage inventory). Decrease starch to <20% for later-lactation cows (keep peak- and early-lactation cows steady).

Limit feeding is another potential option where one feeds 5-10% less dry matter per day. Research from Europe suggests it will reduce milk volume but increase milk fat, protein, and lactose percentages, although there is not much data for this approach in cows. Feed efficiency increases, but there must be adequate bunk space for everyone because they will clean it out. Again, this is a better option for post-peak rather than peak cows. Consult with the nutritionist.

Alternative milk use – feed calves more milk, longer

Replace milk replacer use and replace (a lot of, all?) starter with whole milk, up to 10-12 qts/day. Be sure to provide some hay or (good) silage for rumen development. Consider including a milk fortifier with a coccidiostat and trace minerals. Wean by 12-14 weeks so they don’t get fat and adversely affect mammary development. Watch out for cross-sucking, and put weaners in noses as needed. They may need more of a gradual transition at weaning.

Alternative milk use – feed heifers

This is best done (if it’s possible at all) in a TMR; be sure to keep the TMR >40% dry matter. Make sure to have a break in milk feeding (that is, wean calves, then add milk back to diet after a while). An advantage is eliminating grain costs for heifers.

Alternative milk use – feed cows

Milk can go into the diet at up to 10-20 lbs (1.3-2.6 lbs DM) per day, but the TMR DM needs to stay >40%. Milk can replace some protein supplement (useful if distillers grain supply has disappeared), along with energy. Of course, consult the nutritionist. There are disadvantages. In warmer weather especially (smell, flies!), bunk clean-up frequency will need to increase, and refusals may not work as heifer or dry cow feed. There is risk of disease transmission, particularly Salmonella but also mastitis agents Staph. aureus and Mycoplasma. Pasteurization would mitigate those problems, but the volume in question could prove challenging. Always prioritize pasteurization of milk for calves. Bulk tank testing would be informative.

Alternative milk use – disposal

Milk as nutrients for soil instead of as nutrients for people is disheartening to be sure. If it comes to this, make sure any land application is in accordance with your animal waste management plan.

Overriding points to remember: determine your financial status (debt load per cow and cost of production) so you know your reference points, and when reducing milk production, think about minimizing long-term impacts. The goals are to reduce losses or penalties while keeping cows healthy and efficient.

For more reading/viewing/listening on the topic:

Cornell PRO-DAIRY

article Diet and Management Considerations for Emergencies: Reducing Milk Flow Without Harming Cows and Threatening Future Production

Penn State Extension Dairy

webinar Weighing Your Options through Milk Supply Management

University of Wisconsin Extension Dairy Team

article Strategies to Reduce Milk Production with Limited Impacts on Future Production

article Considerations when landspreading milk or manure/milk mixtures

In these tumultuous times, both personal and economic, Penn State Extension is offering a webinar on “how the COVID-19 pandemic has caused major interruptions in our dairy economy, and how farms can best respond”. They will also explore options for reducing production.

The webinar is Tuesday, April 28, 6:00-7:00 a.m. PDT.

Pre-registration is required, by Monday, April 27.

Here is the link to the full description and registration: https://www.cvent.com/events/weighing-your-options-through-milk-supply-management/event-summary-b4b192c9b6ac4d0383b4b5fc1868ea46.aspx?i=a2ff6efa-bfd2-42a4-83d3-0db67cc12a2b&fbclid=IwAR1FKTvqPzlvEEgiAztcRSg4EEVG1qV15gtt0IRlxDMCU8iseew6XAtXuGI

While we all learn to deal with the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the following resources might be of use. Please note that circumstances are changing breathtakingly fast; this information is current as of the date above.

Cornell University ProDairy did a webinar on March 20 (2020) about COVID-19 and Your Dairy. The webinar recording goes an hour and 15 minutes; they have also provided a pdf with the slides if you’d prefer to just scan through those. While the New York-specific information may not be so relevant, see the sections with federal policies, advisory information, and suggestions for on-dairy adjustments to operations.

This University of Maine Extension bulletin offers some useful guidance as well, including a prioritized farm chore checklist.

Oregon Department of Agriculture COVID-19 Resources provide details on changes to ODA’s operations (dairy inspections to continue as usual; CAFO inspections to proceed as long as social/physical distancing can be maintained) and other useful information.

Oregon Dairy Farmers Association COVID-19 Resources include links to description of changes to federal leave requirements, dairy-specific resources, and templates of “travel-to-work letters” (should they at some point be needed). Note: there is currently no requirement to provide documentation for employees in essential industries, per the Oregon State Police.

A coronavirus (in cross-section) for comparison. This one caused MERS.
image: CDC/ Cynthia Goldsmith; Azaibi Tamin, Ph.D. (2013)
A coronavirus (in cross-section, via electron microscopy) for comparison. This one causes MERS.
image: CDC/ Cynthia Goldsmith; Azaibi Tamin, Ph.D. (2013)
Solar eclipse (1981) showing sun's corona. A view that inspired the name of the virus that has upended everything at the current moment. image: Ray Thomas, http://brisray.com/
Solar eclipse showing sun’s corona. A view that inspired the name of the type of virus that has upended everything at the current moment.
image: Ray Thomas, http://brisray.com/ (1981)
Photo shows  milker washing cow udder in parlor.

It’s impossible to keep much sterile on a dairy, but could clean udder cloths be transmitting mastitis-causing bacteria in the milking parlor? A recent study of 67 U.S. dairies in ten states investigated whether there is an association between the bacteria levels in (clean) cloth towels and the health of the udders those towels were used on. The authors measured bacteria on clean towels and in milk samples. They also looked at towel use and laundering practices.

What did they discover?

  • ~20% of udder quarters were infected
    • 10% non-aureus Staphylococcus species
    • 4% Staphylococcus aureus
    • 5% Streptococcus or Strep-like organisms
    • 4% other gram-positive bacteria
    • 2% gram-negative bacteria (includes coliforms)
  • No towels were free of bacteria. The mean overall bacterial count was 3.77 log10 cfu/cm2 (cfu=colony forming units).
  • Bacillus species were the most commonly found (95% of cloths). Approximately half the towels contained Staph and/or Strep species.
  • Only Staphylococcus species and Streptococcus species counts on towels were associated with mammary infection rate.
  • No towels laundered off-site by a service had high coliform counts. Also, undried towels had higher coliform counts.

Now, the study authors note that they have not demonstrated that new infections are necessarily being introduced from bacteria on clean towels, just that they found a positive association between Staph and Strep infections and the presence of those organisms on clean towels. However, given their findings, they suggest getting clean towels tested and then working to get those bacteria levels to essentially undetectable for Staph, Strep, and coliform species. Changes in laundering or storage practices could help. (When was the last time the clean towel bin was washed?)

The bottom line: Dry udder cloth towels after washing. Get clean towels tested periodically to see if they may be carrying mastitis-causing bacteria.

The paper:

Rowe et al. Cross-sectional study of the relationship between cloth udder towel management, towel bacteria counts, and intramammary infection in late-lactation dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science, December 2019, 102:11401-11413. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2019-17075

This is a three-day course that will cover basic reproductive anatomy and physiology, sire selection, estrus synchronization, as well as training in artificial insemination on live cattle.

  • When: December 16 and 17 9:00am-5:00pm and December 18 9:00am-12 noon
  • Where: Oregon State University, Corvallis
  • How much: $500
  • Food provided: light breakfast, snacks, drinks, and lunch on Monday and Tuesday
  • Questions or to register: Kathryn.Younger@oregonstate.edu
An image of grass hay from an opened bale accompanies the text.

Learn about principles of hay and silage, sensory evaluation of hay, technology tips, and more. Take a pasture tour. See how your best hay stacks up (pun intended) against hay from around the state. Join the Oregon Forage & Grassland Council and the Oregon Hay & Forage Association for the Fall Forage Festival and Hay King Contest at the Yamhill Valley Heritage Center in McMinnville.

Friday, November 15: Speakers and Discussion

Saturday, November 16: Hay King Contest

Registration of $30 per person will be collected at the door (cash, checks & credit cards accepted). OFGC and OHFA members will pay only $15 per person. Lunch will be provided both days. For the full schedule and additional details, visit the following links:

OFGC Events: https://www.oregonforage.org/events/2019-fall-forage-festival/
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/573817356696947/
OHFA Hay King rules: http://oregonhaygrowers.com/?page_id=70

Summer is in full force. Cows need lots of water. Calves do too.

A study by Wickramasinghe and colleagues published earlier this year examined differences in offering calves free-choice water starting at day 0 vs. day 17 (the average age from the 2014 USDA National Animal Health Monitoring System study). The study’s Holstein calves were bottle fed ad lib volumes of milk at 6 quarts per day (over 3 feedings) until 14 days of age, then 10 quarts per day (over 3 feedings) from 14 to 42 days, then 3.4 quarts per day (1 feeding) until weaning at 49 days.

What did they discover?

preweaned dairy calf in hutch with head over black plastic bucket
  • Once they had water available, the starting-at-day-17 calves drank more water through the rest of the preweaning period.
  • Calves with water from day 0 drank more milk than the group starting water at day 17.
  • Starter intake did not differ significantly between the two groups.
  • Calves with water available from day 0 were, on average, taller and longer at weaning and heavier at 5 months than those who didn’t have water until day 17.
  • The two groups had essentially the same incidence pattern of scours.

These results are in accord with an earlier study published in 1984 by Kertz et al. With a more limited milk allowance and much younger weaning age (28 days!), calves with free access to water ate more calf starter and gained more weight with no difference in incidence of scours compared to calves with no water available.

The bottom line: Make sure your calves have water! Even for the youngest ones, water will help them grow.

The papers:

Wickramasinghe et al. Drinking water intake of newborn dairy calves and its effects on feed intake, growth performance, health status, and nutrient digestibility. Journal of Dairy Science, 2019, 102:377-387.

Kertz et al. Ad Libitum Water Intake by Neonatal Calves and Its Relationship to Calf Starter Intake, Weight Gain, Feces Score, and Season. Journal of Dairy Science, 1984, 67:2964-2969.

Along with Oregon Forage and Grassland Council, the Animal & Rangeland Sciences Department of Oregon State University is holding Range Field Day. Topics will include pasture management, targeted grazing, soil health, and novel production systems. Take a tour of OSU Dairy Center pastures and learn about ongoing forage trials.

When:  Thursday, June 27, 2019; 8:00-4:30; lunch provided

Where: Oldfield Animal Teaching Facility, Oregon State University  (3521 SW Campus Way, Corvallis)

Cost:  none

For the full schedule and additional details, see the Range Field Day Flyer 2019.