There is a wide range of milk replacer (MR) macronutrient profiles available on the market. As a producer or nutritionist, the focus is on selecting the right MR to achieve optimal growth rates aligned with the dairy's goals. Most people will usually focus on the fat and protein content within the milk replacer. Another macronutrient that might not be as commonly discussed in this conversation is lactose (energy source). Growth performance alone may not fully capture how MR c

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the New York Dairy Meeting, a two-day event focused on innovative manure management solutions and advancing New York’s dairy conservation legacy. The meeting brought together a remarkably diverse group of stakeholders including dairy farmers, processors, agribusiness representatives, extension personnel, conservationists, lenders, government personnel, and people from watershed-focused organizations and land trusts. The event highlight

In July I attended a field day hosted by the University of Vermont Northwest Crops and Soils Program featuring autonomous weeding robots. These machines, developed by a company called Greenfield Robotics, are designed to fit between 30-inch rows and mow down weeds as they go. The machines can navigate corn rows on their own for several hours before returning to a base location for charging or a battery swap. The goal of the company is to reduce or eliminate chemical herbicid

We‘ve been very busy at Miner Institute this summer! The summer interns have spent a large part of their summer here working with their show heifers to prepare for the Clinton County Fair in Plattsburgh, NY. They spent the last few months training their heifers to lead well on halters and were taught how to best set up their animal for the show ring.

At Miner Institute’s recent Open House, I gave narrated rides on a hay wagon through our dairy facility. As we approached a pen of cows we are currently conducting a dairy nutrition trial on, nearly every one of the 86 cows in the pen were bunched in 1/3 of the pen closest to the center of the barn. I was hopeful the “general public” wouldn’t perceive that we were forcing the cows to live in such close proximity to each other…it was a hot day.

Dairy calves or dairy-beef calves, not destined for replacement animals, routinely contribute to the beef industry. Some estimates are that over 4.7 million calves go to dairy-beef in the United States annually and are typically raised to be harvested around 16-18 months of age. Many of these animals are transported to a dairy-beef farm early in life, often at less than one week of age. This transport can include multiple trips from the farm of origin and can include auction

The ration is formulated. You loaded the ingredients. You mixed the TMR. But did you actually feed the ration you intended to? Most farms routinely monitor feed ingredients, dry matters, and ration costs, but the scale responsible for weighing those ingredients may not be receiving similar attention. Mixer wagon scale accuracy is especially important for low-inclusion rate ingredients like premixes and feed additives. Even small deviations can become economically meaningful

Alfalfa is a perennial legume, but because it’s typically managed for high forage quality it’s often not a long-lived one. Most dairy farmers in this region are satisfied to get 4 or 5 productive years from a stand of alfalfa or alfalfa grass — and they should be, for several reasons.

Weaning is a major physiological time for a young calf, especially when the calf is fed an elevated milk replacer feeding program (Khan et al., 2011; Steele et al., 2017; Wolfe et al., 2023; Drackley, 2025). There are several benefits to adopting an elevated milk feeding program; in a review, Ghaffari and Hammon (2026) outline several. These include an increase in energy and protein supply, insulin and IGF-1 signaling, mTORC1 activation, muscle and protein synthesis, average

I recently had the opportunity to discuss milk component production and the growing role that fat and protein play in farm profitability with a group of young dairy farmers. This topic comes up often and for good reason. Fat and protein production are making up a larger share of the value of the milk we ship every day. Many farms have already made tremendous progress over the last 5+ years.

I’ve always enjoyed farm tours, especially when other farmers are on them. It’s not the big picture of the farm itself that’s all that interesting…wood, metal and concrete. It’s often not the farm manager that is that interesting either, although we’ve met some memorable ones. When on other’s farms, most farmers I’ve traveled with are looking at the little things …clever fixits that save a few minutes each day… that they hadn’t thought of…and could adapt to their farm. A diff

For many years, fat supplementation in dairy diets was viewed primarily as a way to increase the energy density of the ration. This concept remains true, particularly for high-producing cows with substantial energy demands, but recent research has shown that the response to fat supplementation depends not only on the amount of fat supplied but also on the specific fatty acids being fed. In other words, nutritionists are shifting their attention from "feeding more fat" to "fee

With the arrival of July comes lots of activity around the farm! Our four Summer Experience in Farm Management students are settling in and currently alternating between milking, feeding, crops, calf care, and herd health rotations, each a week long.

It is well known that the largest contributors to morbidity and mortality in preweaning calves are digestive issues and pneumonia (Urie et al., 2018; NAHMS, 2014). High levels of disease have substantial economic consequences in dairy heifer rearing systems, as the cost of raising a dairy replacement heifer to the close-up period is approximately $2,619 in 2026 USD.

We’re hearing reports of heavy first cuts of alfalfa and alfalfa-grass. This combined with some cool, wet weather in late May resulted in some hay crops being ensiled before they were dry enough for proper fermentation. At 30% DM or lower there’s an increased chance of butyric acid produced by Clostridial bacteria.

Protein supplements represent one of the largest feed costs on most dairy farms, making ingredient selection critical for both animal performance and profitability. Soybean meal has long been considered the benchmark protein supplement because of its high crude protein (CP) content and excellent digestibility. However, canola meal has become increasingly available throughout the Northeast and often provides a more economical source of metabolizable protein. To better understa

Maybe surprising to some of you, heat stress does actually occur here in northern New York. As I write this, it is 80°F at 8 am, and it is expected to reach 96°F later today with a heat index of 106. Unlike the southern US, which experiences chronic heat stress, we experience it intermittently during the summer.

Heat stress is commonly associated with reduced milk production, lower reproductive performance and changes in cow behavior, but many of its negative effects originate at the rumen level. As environmental temperature and humidity increase, cows undergo a series of physiological and behavioral adaptations aimed at dissipating heat, altering rumen fermentation dynamics, nutrient utilization, and milk component production.

Happy National Dairy Month! The cows and dairy employees have been enjoying the late spring weather. There are currently 632 cows milking through the parlor, and despite the fluctuating weather the herd continues to average 100 pounds of milk per cow per day.

Morbidity and mortality rates in U.S. dairy calves is high, and a large proportion is due to digestive issues. Calves with at least one morbidity incidence were reported at 33.8% and mortality at 5%. Digestive issues account for 50.9% of the reported morbidity rate and 32% of the mortality rate (USDA, 2021). There are four major infectious causes of diarrhea in calves, Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), Cryptosporidium parvum, rotavirus and coronavirus.