Five Dairy "Do NOT Do" in 2018

Here is a quick-hit list of “do NOT do” items this year, despite low milk prices and low margins:

• Remove minerals from rations
• Cheat heifers; slow down growth
• Delay breeding with longer calving intervals
• Avoid body condition scores > 3.25 without rBST
• Saving a dime and lose a dollar (organic trace minerals, hoof trimming, bull breeding)

Also, here is a check-list of management items you should be doing on your dairy to optimize profitability. Are you doing at least five?

• Feeding an accelerated milk or milk replacer program (2% birth weight as milk solids dry matter)
• Calving heifers at 23 to 24 months of age with monitoring growth 1.8 lb average daily growth (Holsteins)
• Consider the low-energy / high-straw dry cow ration
• Strategic use of feed additives
• Implement a fresh cow group (for 10 to 21 days)
• Use of calcium boluses for at risk cows (50 grams with Calcium chloride, propionate, or sulfate)
• Supplementing organic trace minerals (Zinc, Copper, Chromium, and Selenium)
• Heat stress abatement for dry cows