Dairy Cattle

“Pumpkage” – Putting Recycled Pumpkins to Use in the Cow’s Diet

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Halloween has passed, and Thanksgiving is coming soon. If you wonder what to do with pumpkins as the seasons’ orange fades to Christmas green, cattle may be the answer.

A large quantity of pumpkins are available at salvage prices, and their high digestibility is appealing to many dairy farmers. Take special consideration to feeding logistics and nutrition.

Feeding logistics

Cattle should be able to break upon pumpkins after several free/thaw patterns, according to an Extension factsheet published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln. If pumpkins still remain too hard, lightly disking pumpkins in the field may help. One scenario could involve cattle grazing a field with cornstalk residual, supplemented by hay and pumpkins.

Additionally, Susan Kerr with Washington State University Cooperative Extension describes her experience making pumpkin silage, “pumpkage,” here. Her efforts to preserve the pumpkins for later use involved a “pumpkage” formulation with and without straw, and she ground the pumpkins with a wood chopper.

Nutrition

Pumpkins tend to have a moisture content between 83% and 88%, a crude protein content between 14% and 15% dry matter (DM), and a total digestible nutrients (TDN) of 60% to 70%, according to University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cooperative Extension.

Washington State University Cooperative Extension also cautions cattlemen to monitor trace mineral consumption when feeding large amounts of pumpkins, as pumpkins are high in phosphorus.

Remember, however, all pumpkins are not created equal. This nutrient content table published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln shows pie pumpkins tend to have higher DM, higher acid detergent fiber (ADF) and lower digestibility than carving pumpkins.

The Great Pumpkin

Pumpkins are a unique crop with special nutrition and feeding logistics. However, as many retailers are willing to sell large numbers of pumpkins salvage prices, it may be an opportunity you do not want to miss.

Moo-ve Over Wine, Beer and Cheese May be a Better Pair

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It has longed been assumed that wine and cheese have always made the perfect pair, but one Minnesota brewing company is challenging that belief.

“Pairing” with Undeniably Dairy, Fulton Brewing Company,located in Minneapolis, Minn., is working to marry some of their most popular beer varieties with Minnesota’s best cheeses. So far, the brewery has matched some of their craft beers with St. Pete’s select blue cheese from Caves of Faribault by Prairie Farms, whiskey-washed muenster by Redhead Creamery and a savory cheddar from Land O’ Lakes’.

“People think beer comes in one flavor, but there are so many different kinds,” says Fulton brewer, Tanner Luke, in an interview with the StarTribune.“Wine and beer are more similar than people think.”

It’s not just the beer and cheese that make a great combination. Working alongside dairy farmers, Fulton Brewing Company donates some of their spent grain for producers to use in their total mixed ration. Supporting sustainable practices, a portion of the proceeds from the beer and cheese paired flights will be donated to Brewing a Sustainable Future, a program that matches breweries with farmers to help them sustainably use this brewing byproduct, according to City Pages.

“It’s really pairing Fulton Brewery and their sustainability story with what we do with sustainability, because we have that in common,” Margaret Johnson, and Minnesota dairy farmer, told City Pages.

Although the beer and cheese flight pairing will only be available for a limited time, Fulton Brewing Company plans to incorporate one of the three cheeses into its regular menu to promote the cheese pairing.

“In America, there’s been this explosion of careful consideration of flavors and tasting,” Liz Nerud, a cheesemonger, also known as professional cheese matcher, told the StarTribune. “People are being more mindful about things, and they’re treating [food and drink] as an experience, not just sustenance.”

McDonald’s Launches Reformulated Chocolate Milk

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Serving more than 25 million customers a day, McDonald’s is a huge player in the dairy industry as dairy is included in 80% of the restaurant’s menu items. Recently, the fast food giant announced a reformulated version of its chocolate milk beverage.

The new formulation has 25% less sugar than McDonald’s previous chocolate milk and is no longer a fat-free product, according to a press release from Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), a dairy checkoff company that McDonald’s has worked with since 2009.

Support from dairy checkoff food scientists has helped McDonald’s USA produce a reduced-sugar, low-fat chocolate milk that will be unveiled nationwide in January.

McDonald’s worked side by side with the diary checkoff company to reformulate this newer version of chocolate milk. In June 2018, the fast food giant pulled cheeseburgers and chocolate milk from its Happy Meal menu in an effort to cut down on the calories, sodium, saturated fat and sugar kids consume at its restaurants.

Now with the new formulation, it may not be long till we see chocolate milk back on the kid’s menu.

“Chocolate milk has been a longtime customer favorite at McDonald’s and U.S. dairy farmers are glad to see the chain roll out a great-tasting chocolate milk that has even more nutritional benefits than previously,” said Pennsylvania dairy farmer Marilyn Hershey, who serves as chair of DMI. “This is a great example of a foodservice leader listening and responding to customer demand. It also benefits dairy farmers because McDonald’s will offer an improved milk product to millions of customers, which could lead to similar changes at other restaurants.”

Take the “Stress” Out of Caring for Cold Stressed Calves

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Winter weather could be here sooner than we originally thought as a shot of much colder air will dip down and cover much of the country this week. That blast of cold air could include snow for some and frigid temperatures for others, according to U.S. Farm Report meteorologist Cindi Clawson.

For dairy producers, bitter temperatures present additional challenges when it comes to keeping dairy calves healthy, comfortable and growing. To combat potential cold stress, here are five tips to keep calves bright-eyed and bushy-tailed during colder weather:

Give Newborns a Quick Warm Up

Just like people, calves attempt to maintain a constant body temperature regardless of the outside temperature. Within a certain range of temperatures called the thermoneutral zone, calves can maintain body temperature without needing extra energy. When the temperature drops below the lower critical temperature, calves must use energy to support basic bodily functions and maintain their body temperature.

Here are three ways to ensure newborn calves stay at a constant, warm temperature:

  • Turn on the heater – Consider using a calf warmer or warming roomto quickly dry newborn calves and help increase body temperature.
  • Deep and dry bedding – When calves are laying down, a good rule of thumb is to provide enough bedding that one should not be able to see the feet and legs of the calf.
  • Calf blankets – Even though they add extra expense, calf blankets are reusable and provide an extra layer of protection for calves. Make sure to adequately clean and dry blankets between uses.

Consider Adding Another Meal

The most critical, and most expensive, period of calf growth in raising dairy calves is the pre-weaning period. During this period calves are highly susceptible to cold stress with a lower critical temperature of 50°F for newborn calves and 32°F for older calves.

In cold weather, feed more milk or milk replacer daily if using individual bottle or pail feedings in one of three ways:

1) Add a feeding or a third meal.

2) Increase the volume fed by a third.

3) Increase the total solids fed.

Don’t Forget the Water!

Another key to feeding calves in cold weather is to provide all liquids at 105°F target temperature for consumption. Always offer calves clean, fresh water in addition to milk or milk replacer. With regard to free-choice water, this means offering warm water several times per day in cold weather.

Step Up the Starter

The sooner calves start eating grain, the more benefit they will get in terms of generating heat. Anything we can do to encourage starter consumption will have a positive effect on calves’ ability to withstand cold temperatures. Offer small amounts of starter during the first week of life and be sure to have water available to all calves because drinking water stimulates starter intake.

When to Wean?

Cold stress can result in calves turning to stored body fat to generate body heat, essentially losing weight. In addition, calves experiencing cold stress will have compromised immune systems making them more susceptible to disease. Weaning calves during extreme cold conditions provides added stress to the animal and consideration should be given to delaying weaning until temperatures are less extreme.

Some Thoughts on Halloween Hay

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By Mike Rankin

Many regions have now or will soon reach the point when significant alfalfa regrowth won’t occur if the crop is cut one more time. Research has historically shown that cutting when the chances for regrowth are low is safer from a winter injury or kill standpoint than cutting earlier in the fall when regrowth is still possible.

There are three primary reasons why farmers decide to cut alfalfa late in the fall. They are:

1. Don’t want to leave money on the table.

In the case where favorable weather has contributed to significant fall growth, it’s hard to leave an apparent high-yielding, high-quality crop out in the field. However, the reality is that late fall-cut alfalfa is rarely high yielding.

Yes, the crop can sometimes be tall, but the stems are usually small and there are fewer of them. What looks like a high-yield crop usually shrinks to nearly nothing when put into a swath or windrow. This makes for expensive forage when harvest costs are considered.

On the flip side, late fall-cut forage is almost always excellent quality. With the extended cool temperatures, there is low fiber deposition and plant digestibility stays high.

2. It will smother out if not cut.

There’s been a long-held concern by some that fall alfalfa growth will smother and kill a stand over winter. This simply does not happen with a legume such as alfalfa. Rather, leaves freeze and eventually drop off the plant. Stems, for the most part, stand erect. The old, fall aftermath growth may impact forage quality in the next year’s first cutting, but if harvested early enough the reduction in quality is minimal.

3. There’s a need for feed.

Following a year of severe winterkill or drought, sometimes alfalfa is cut in late fall simply to meet a need for additional feed. This may apply to many in 2019.

Is there risk?

Though the risk to cut alfalfa in the late fall has proven to be less than when regrowth potential is high, the practice is not without some downside. Already mentioned is the fact that yields are typically low; they will be even lower if the cutting height is raised as is often recommended for a late-fall cut.

Also consider that fields cut in the late fall generally break dormancy later during the following spring and have a lower first-cut yield compared to not being fall cut. The gain in fall yield is about equal to the loss in spring yield. This is not to say that the fields are winter injured but rather less vigorous come spring.

Leaving the fall aftermath growth over winter is beneficial to not just catching and holding snow cover, but it also has the effect of moderating soil temperature fluctuations during winter and early spring. It is extreme soil temperature fluctuations that may cause alfalfa to break dormancy too early or cause plant heaving.

Finally, consider the condition of the alfalfa stand before taking a late-fall cut. If it’s already been stressed by intensive cutting, pest issues, or low soil fertility, stress from an additional cutting will likely accelerate stand decline.

All factors considered, the need for feed prior to the next year’s harvest may be the only good reason to cut alfalfa in late fall.

Beef Quality Assurance Certification

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Mark your Calendar and call (302) 831-2506 to register by Friday, November 1, 2019

 

What: Beef Quality Assurance Training

When:  Saturday, November 16, 2019

Where: UD Cooperative Kent County Extension Office

69 Transportation Circle, Dover, DE 19901

Time: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Lunch: Lunch will be served

Join your fellow producers and the Delaware Extension team for Beef Quality Assurance training.  Following the workshop producers will have the opportunity to take the National Beef Quality Assurance exam and become BQA certified.

We will wrap up lunch that is sponsored by the Delaware Beef Board.

The meeting is free and everyone interested in attending is welcome.  If you have special needs in accessing this program, please call the office two weeks in advance.

To register or request more information, please call our office at (302)831-2506.

Thank you and see you there.  Dan Severson

 

 

 

 

Our institutions are an equal opportunity provider.

FDA Proposes Banning Over-the-counter Antibiotic Sales

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Milk splash. ( Farm Journal, Inc. )

In just a few years, you will no longer be able to buy over-the-counter (OTC) antibiotics from your local farm supply store or mail order catalogue.

In a draft guidance issued in late September, the Food and Drug Administration is proposing to ban the OTC sale of more than 100 animal drugs. Some of the more common OTC drugs on FDA’s list are formulations that include cephapirin, penicillin G procaine, sulfamethazine and tetracycline. The ban will take at least two years to implement—if not longer.

In effect, FDA’s proposal would require livestock producers to obtain veterinary prescriptions for these medications if they want to continue their use. Note: Some of these drugs might become unavailable if their manufacturers opt to pull them the market.

The purpose of the FDA action is to reduce the use of medically-important antimicrobials in animal agriculture and ensure that they are only used when necessary for the treatment, control or prevention of specific diseases. By moving these drugs to prescription-only, it assures the drugs will be administered to animals under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.

The proposal sounds more ominous than it really is, say veterinarians and pharmaceutical companies. “Moving these drugs from over-the-counter to prescription will have a minor impact on dairy farmers,” says Ron Erskine, a veterinary and mastitis specialist with Michigan State University.

To start with, most of the antibiotics sold OTC are old drugs. Most, if not all, of the drugs on the list are decades old formulations approved prior to the mid-1990s.

Under the FARM (Farmers Assuring Responsible Management) program, dairy farmers are already required to have a valid, signed veterinary/client/patient relationship with their local veterinarian and have established written protocols for the use of antibiotics, he notes. “Everybody wants protocols in place for FARM audits,” Erskine says.

Drug residues in milk has become almost a non-issue, with residue rates dropping steadily over the past decade. In fiscal year 2018, just 364 tanker loads of milk tested positive antibiotic residues out of the 3,598,188 tankers tested. That’s a positive rate of 0.01%, reports the National Milk Drug Residue Data Base. A pilot project looking for tetracycline residues in raw milk conducted in 2017 and 2018 found just six positives in the 304,289 tankers tested, for a positive rate of 0.002%.

The bigger problem is antibiotic residues in cull dairy cows. When USDA veterinarians conduct follow-up investigations of carcass residues, they find the majority of farms investigated have not had veterinarian involvement or direction in the use of antibiotics to treat sick animals nor do the farms have appropriate treatment and drug withdrawal records, says Mike Lormore, Director, Dairy Cattle Technical Services at Zoetis.

Bringing all antibiotic use under the umbrella of the veterinary/client/patient relationship is simply prudent, responsible use, he says.

FDA is accepting comments on the proposal until December 24, 2019. The agency will then issue a final guidance followed by a two-year implementation period.

Milk Protein Could Aid in Chemotherapy Side Effects

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Cancer patients often suffer poor appetite, weight loss, depression and diminished nutrition, all of which are detrimental to recovery.
( Canva )

One of the most common side effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients is weight loss due to loss of appetite. According to a study conducted by Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, lactoferrin, a protein most commonly found in milk, is shown help alleviate the metallic aftertaste side effect associated with this aggressive treatment.

“The prevailing symptom described by patients undergoing chemotherapy is a persistent metallic flavor or aftertaste, with or without food intake,” said Susan Duncan, Ph.D., R.D. at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Thus, cancer patients often suffer poor appetite, weight loss, depression, and diminished nutrition, all of which are detrimental to recovery, according to Manitoba Co-operator News.

After extracting lactoferrin from cows’ milk, researchers administered this protein to chemotherapy users as a dietary supplement and found that it helped reduce unpleasant flavors and even restored the appetite for many of the patients.

“Our research shows that daily lactoferrin supplementation elicits changes in the salivary protein profiles in cancer patients — changes that may be influential in helping to protect taste buds and odor perception,” said Duncan.

While October is typically associated with Brest Cancer Awareness Month,this dairy protein can be used to help relieve one of the negative side effects correlated to chemotherapy, a treatment used to help battle all forms of cancer.

New Beverage Guidelines Recommend Milk for Children

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A glass of milk a day is important part of dairy nutrition. ( Farm Journal Media )

A report published Sept. 18 announces new beverage guidelines for youth. Water and milk are  encouraged… while plant-based beverages are not.

Four of America’s biggest health organizations developed the new guidelines, which recommend cutting down on sugary sodas and juices, as well as favoring breast milk and cow’s milk instead of plant-based beverages.

r. Nathalie Muth, a representative of American Academy of Pediatrics to develop the report, was quoted by WebMD from a press release accompanying the guidelines’ release.

“As a pediatrician, I know what a child drinks can be almost as important of what they eat,” Muth said. “Children learn what flavors they prefer at a very early age – as young as 9 months.”

WebMD says the guidelines recommend whole milk for one-year-old children, moving towards skim and 1% milk for children ages two to five years old. Water can be introduced to infants ages six to 12 months to familiarize them to the taste. In general, juice should be avoided, and when it is provided after one years of age, it should be 100% juice and given in only small amounts due to sugar content.

Megan Lott, who also contributed to the guidelines and is director of Healthy Eating Research, cautioned against plant-based beverages in an article published by CNN.

“There’s a misconception that they are equal somehow to cow or dairy milk, but that’s just not the case,” Lott said.

The guidelines garnered attention ranging from Good Morning America to leading health organizations.

Dairy Farmer’s: It’s the last chance to enroll

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USDA extended the deadline on its signature dairy safety net program — Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC). The new deadline is this Friday, September 27. Until the extension, the deadline had been September 20.

“With smaller margins and increased feed costs, DMC has resulted in almost $230 million in payments disbursed,” said Bill Northey, USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation.

“I know that some farmers may still be cautious given their experiences with former dairy support programs, but producers who have not signed up yet should come into a local office to learn how much money the program can put into their pockets,” he continued.

Half have signed up
“More than 21,200 dairy operations have already signed up for DMC, but we’re providing an additional week to help ensure interested producers have time to come into the office,” said Northey of the one-week extension.

Almost half of the producers who have signed up so far are taking advantage of the 25 percent premium discount by locking in for five years of margin protection coverage. FSA has launched a new web visualization of the DMC data, which is available here.

Margin payments have been triggered for each month from January through July. Dairy producers who elect higher coverage levels could be eligible for payments for all seven months. Under certain levels, the amount paid to dairy farmers will exceed the cost of the premium.

For example, a dairy operation that chooses to enroll for 2019 with an established production history of 3 million pounds (30,000 cwt.) and elects the $9.50 coverage level on 95 percent of production will pay $4,275 in total premium payments for all of 2019 and receive $15,437.50 in DMC payments for all margin payments announced to date. Additional payments will be made if calculated margins remain below the $9.50 per cwt. level for any remaining months of 2019.

Advice to dairy farmers
“My message to those dairy producers who are hurting out there: Don’t leave this kind of financial assistance on the table,” said Northey, who announced the deadline extension on September 19, 2019, as part of a hearing in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture. “Producers across the country have told us that DMC is a great risk management tool that works well, and it can work for you, too.”

“Dairy farmers have much to gain by signing up for this program, and another week to take advantage of this benefit can be nothing but helpful for them,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF). “We urge producers to take advantage of this added opportunity to sign up.”

“We appreciate USDA’s decision to extend the sign-up period for the DMC, and we are hopeful that more producers will sign up before the enrollment period ends. FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative believes that this program will perform much better than its predecessor and encourages all dairy farmers to sign up,” says John Rettler, president of FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative and a dairy farmer from Neosho, Wis.

“We can’t emphasize it enough, this is a program all dairy farmers should sign up for,” says Rettler. “There are still improvements to be made over time to DMC, and much of the valuable feedback we receive is through producers who have experienced the program. Farmer participation allows for greater improvements later on.”