Dairy farm families have historically called on their veterinarian consultants for prevention and treatment of diseases on the farm. Traditionally, their role has been to look for problems associated with maintaining herd health. And, while this has impacted production, the role of the veterinarian has evolved to have an even greater impact on profitability by helping the farm management team take a broader look to identify potential opportunities for efficiencies on the dairy.
Dr. David Galligan is a professor of animal health economics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. He works with dairy farm operations in the south-central Pennsylvania area to help them look at herd health and production issues in terms of their relative impact on the overall profitability of the dairy.
Galligan says as he works with dairy farms, he sees the potential for efficiencies in several key areas of the dairy, including nutrition management, reproduction and the use of emerging technologies.
In this article, the Center for Dairy Excellence invited Galligan to share from a veterinarian’s perspective what aspects of these three areas he sees as potential opportunities for improvement on the dairy farm. He shares that perspective below.
1. Nutrition and forage management: In an industry where the feed cost per cow per day ratio is constantly being evaluated, Galligan says nutrition and forage management practices easily rise to the top of the list of conceivably overlooked practices on a dairy farm.
Ensuring the employees responsible for mixing and feeding the ration follow and implement the guidelines for your herd is critical. He recommends taking time daily to walk through the barn and observe whether or not the cows have plenty of feed in front of them, are eating or sorting feed and appear comfortable.
According to Galligan, it is also important those in charge of forages understand just how vital the importance of high-quality, digestible forages are. Producers need to make it a priority to harvest and store them at the most opportune times.
It may mean working around the clock to get it dried before rain or to run tractors on the pack to increase bunk density and get it covered with plastic quickly. But attention to the smaller details can make all the difference when it comes down to consistent, high-quality forages available for use down the road.
2. Reproductive efficiencies: Another key element Galligan says is often overlooked is reproductive efficiency and the timeliness of getting a cow bred back to the herd. Due to the herd’s lactation curve, cows have extremely high efficiency of milk yield in early lactation relative to later lactation. Profitability increases when most of the cows spend a majority of their time in that early phase of lactation.
To maintain the maximum number of cows spending most of their time in that early lactation period, Galligan says achieving good pregnancy rates, certainly above 20 percent, should be a standard policy.
If a producer or herdsman is not achieving these standards, this must be investigated, and the use of systematic breeding programs should be evaluated. Once the issues are identified and resolved, taking time to teach employees will greatly aid in success for the future.
3. The use of emerging technologies: Lastly, a broader and ever-evolving area Galligan says should be evaluated is the use of emerging technologies available to the herd. A newer area where vets can play a vital role is in bridging what’s emerging in dairy management and health and production management.
Galligan says vets can help form an important conduit to the resources available. They should be versed on what potential technologies and products are out there and what their economic basis is to the farm.
When looking into these three key areas of your business, Galligan says it is important to make sure there are actual best management practices in place for all areas of the farm, employees are educated about them and, lastly, they are being implemented.
Getting your vet involved can provide a pair of fresh eyes to see problem areas that could be costing you money, especially in nutrition, reproduction and technology not being utilized.
Galligan and the Center for Dairy Excellence recently joined to introduce a new “Dairy Analyzer Program” that can help producers pinpoint potential profit opportunities on the farm. Go to the website to learn more about that tool. PD
Dr. David Galligan is a professor of animal health economics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Amie Howes is the communications specialist at Pennsylvania’s Center for Dairy Excellence.
