Picture this: Cows moving freely and independently between milking, feeding, and resting all within their own pen. This is called a free cow traffic system and is the most common barn design containing an automatic milking system (AMS). This system seems optimal because cows can perform natural behaviors and choose their schedule and farmers can sit back and watch…right?

When considering milk replacer options on the market, there is no shortage. However, what information do you need to be able to confidently make the right decision on which one to pick for your calves? This includes the nutrients the milk replacer provides, the ingredients, and the cost. Some of this information is on the milk replacer tag . A basic milk replacer tag would typically have something like 24/20 or 28/15 in the title. This is the protein and fat content, with oth

Advances in portable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) may provide another way to evaluate TMR consistency. Portable NIR instruments can rapidly estimate feed composition without sending every sample to a laboratory. This makes it possible to collect multiple TMR samples and quickly determine whether key nutritional components remain consistent throughout mixer discharge.

The arrival of fall in upstate New York brings beautiful foliage and brisk mornings, along with an often 30-degree swing in temperature between sunrise and midafternoon. As evening temperatures begin to drop and persist throughout the morning hours, many producers are starting to ask the same question: Is it time to break out the calf jackets?

As we head into winter months, the barns are, rather reluctantly, beginning to feel colder temperatures. Despite changing weather, our herd remains consistent, withstanding the fluctuating conditions quite well. With 593 lactating animals, averages are holding steady at 100.9 pounds of milk per day, with fat and protein sitting at 4.5% and 3.2%, respectively.

There was a time in my life when I was considering becoming a meteorologist, but when I realized how often people get annoyed with an inaccurate weather forecast I decided it wasn’t for me. The fact of the matter is, even our most advanced artificial intelligence weather models are wrong more often than most weather men would like to admit. That said, I have always been fascinated with how certain factors can be correlated with seasonal temperature and precipitation patterns

According to U.S. fertilizer industry representatives, since 2024 the price of sulfur fertilizer has increased by 1000%. (Not a typo!) A recent price for calcium sulfate (gypsum) was about $500 per ton, depending on supplier and transportation costs. The high prices are in part because of the war in the Middle East but are also due to export controls and high industrial demand.

It’s the time of year when, hopefully, everyone is deep into harvesting corn silage or has already finished. It goes without saying that the work doesn’t end once the feed has been delivered to the bunk. The timing of harvest is certainly important for determining the quality of forage ensiled and ultimately fed to the cow, but how the forage is delivered and packed into the bunk can have a major impact on how well that quality is preserved.

Every year they seem to show up at about the same time. Corn silage harvest is wrapping up, temperatures begin to drop, and suddenly there are birds everywhere. My dislike for birds on dairy farms goes back much farther than my time at Miner Institute. As a graduate student at the University of Illinois, the dairy farm had several large trees near the barns that served as roosting sites for thousands of birds, primarily starlings. During the winter after the leaves had fallen

Mycotoxins are low-molecular weight secondary metabolites primarily synthesized by fungal genera Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium. They can contaminate feed and when consumed have toxic effects on animals and humans. Mycotoxins can originate from both the field and storage. Mycotoxins can negatively affect feed intake, rumen function, milk production, immune responses, reproduction, and susceptibility to disease. Furthermore, from a food system standpoint, mycotoxins ca

Around this time of year we often mention the importance of proper timing for chopping corn for silage. Farmers have waited over four months since planting the crop, but too many refuse to wait a couple more weeks until the crop reaches at least 32% DM. Harvesting the crop at a range of 32% to 37% whole plant DM is fine in most situations. Any mention in the farm press or other sources of 30% DM as a goal for corn silage should be ignored: The corn plant is adding starch each

In the June and July issues of the Farm Report I discussed the hydrology and nitrogen (N) dynamics from a recent no-till study that was completed at Miner Institute. We’ll finish up the discussion of this study by delving into the impacts of no-till on phosphorus (P) losses from the field.

For decades dairy calf nutrition programs have been built around compromise: to provide enough milk to support calf growth, while restricting milk intake to stimulate early starter feed consumption and rumen development, ultimately for an earlier weaning. This approach has made the calf rearing process relatively predictable and economical, but is it the right answer? Are we missing out on the true biological potential of modern dairy calves?

Hi, I am Juliette Levesque, the new year-long Agricultural Research Intern! I am from Westborough, Massachusetts, and I recently graduated from the University of Vermont with a BS in Animal Science. I originally chose UVM because of their CREAM program, a student-run dairy farm, as I was very excited for the hands-on animal experience. I have been interested in veterinary medicine for as long as I can remember but wasn’t sure what area I wanted to pursue or which animals I w

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