Cows are inherently competitive and aggressive eaters, which makes effective management of their physical environment essential. Properly designed and managed feeding conditions can help mitigate competitive behaviors, promoting higher dry matter intake (DMI). As a rule of thumb, each additional 0.45 kg (1 lb) of DMI translates into 0.91 kg (2 lb) of milk production in Holstein cows (Grant, 2015).

Effective housing is critical for ensuring the comfort, health, and productivity of dairy cows. Whether you're planning to build a new facility or improve an existing one, focusing on key factors can enhance both animal welfare and farm efficiency

Varying stocking density can have an impact on number of displacements from the feed bunk or feeding space, regardless of parity. Huzzey and colleagues 55 observed 22 more displacements from the feed bunk per day among cows housed at 150% versus those housed at 100% When 1 cows shared a single automatic feeder dis.

Silage management is not easy and involves many complex interactions to get the greatest return from the significant investment in growing, harvesting, storing and feeding quality forages.

These days, repro programs on progressive dairies are well-oiled machines. When it comes to annual pregnancy rates, we now tend to see more dairies around 30% than we see at 20%. And a 40+% annual average is no longer an unattainable dream of the future.

Most dairies soak cows with potable water, and the amount used varies widely among farms (eg, 4.5-25.7 L/h per cow). In the coming decades, water is predicted to become increasingly limited. Therefore, in addition to mitigating heat stress, reducing water footprint is a major sustainability concern for the US dairy industry.