The poor, lowly penny, often ignored, forgotten, and discarded, but when present in numbers, they have surprising power, even on dairies. At current Class III prices, a penny’s worth of milk is about 1.6 tablespoons. That sounds like nothing (it’s less than an ounce),...
Much responsibly needs to be taken when testing for butterfat content. When I am asked why the results vary so much, I feel that we owe producers a reason. Arizona DHIA has its “butterfat machines” audited every year in November. Not only are the machines gone...
Cows today are producing twice the amount of milk they did back in 1960. More amazing than the milk yield, but less talked about, is the improvement in milk quality that took place during just the last decade. Somatic cell count (SCC) has served as a convenient...
What is your target SCC goal? Your goal should be 200,000 cells/mL or less according to a recent article inHoard’s Dairyman. SCC goal-setting was also one of the featured presentations at the recent 2013 meeting of the National Mastitis Council. 200,000 cells/mL is...
Hoard’s Dairyman says to never give up high milk production. High producing dairy cows convert 1 pound of dry matter to 2 to 2.5 pounds of milk. According to the August edition of Hoard’s, a pound of dry matter costs 13 to 16 cents. Two pounds of milk at 20 cents a...
