Feeding to counter heat stress and milk fat depression
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Ilkyu Yoon, Ph.D.
Diamond V
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Cows under heat stress often suffer milk fat depression (MFD) and researchers don't completely understand the phenomenon. However, it appears possible to impact MFD through the ration and help reduce its effects by optimizing rumen function.
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Producer Spotlight
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Spring dairying in Minnesota...finally!
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Who: Mark Buntjer
What: Dairyridge Dairy
Where: Long Prairie, MN
Spring has finally come to central Minnesota. Toward the end of March, snow was still 2 feet deep in the fields. "It's been a long winter," says Mark Buntjer, "but now we can see bare ground."
Mark is the manager and one of the partners in Dairyridge Dairy near Long Prairie, MN. Mark and the other partners - Dave Tomsche, DVM, brother Dan Tomsche, DVM, and Greg Marthaler - are all Minnesota natives and accustomed to operating on the northern edge of the range of large dairies in the Upper Midwest.
Dairyridge milks 1,500 Holsteins and farms 3,500 acres - 2,000 acres owned by the partners and another 1,500 acres rented cropland. The Dairyridge crop operation includes a center pivot irrigation system and produces short-season corn, silage corn, and alfalfa.
The Dairyridge dairy operation features a free-stall barn and double-18 parlor milking 3 times per day. Together, the dairy and crop operations employ 43 workers.
The TMR at Dairyridge can include the farm's own corn silage, haylage, high-moisture corn, and field-dried corn as Dairyridge has no corn dryer.
Also the TMR can contain a "com-mix" or commodity mix including dry or wet distillers (DGS), soybean meal, canola meal, whey-molasses blend, manufactured protein supplement, and ryelage.
"Ryelage reduces bulk density in the TMR," Mark says, "which gives it some 'fluff' for better mixing."
He adds that Dairyridge has benefited from the TMR
Audit TM procedure conducted on-farm by Diamond V's North American Dairy Tech Team. The Dairyridge TMR premix includes Original XPC TM.
In 2008, Mark converted Dairyridge free-stall bedding from wood shavings to green manure solids, generated by a FAN Separator. He developed his own approach with the technology, which Hoard's Dairyman highlighted in last week's issue."Cows are a lot more comfortable," Mark says, "both winter and summer. And we're seeing decreased mastitis and somatic cell counts." In addition, he adds, payback on the manure separator exceeded expectations and helped cover the cost of a new heifer barn.
Another moneymaker is the current beef market. The Long Prairie area is home to a number of Amish farm families. Dairyridge sends calves for rearing while retaining ownership. Heifers come back to Dairyridge as 1350-lb. springers and steers come back at 350 lbs. to be reared to 650-700 lbs. on dairy feed refusals.
After a long winter, Minnesotans celebrate spring, and then really get going in summer. As a member of the Board of Directors of the Todd County Fair (Aug. 14-17), Mark helps organize the fun.
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Advisor Access
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Our team of dairy experts keeps growing
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By Clayton Gill
Editor/Strategic Communications
Diamond V
Diamond V dairy expertise in the field gets another boost this spring - both in the Southeast and the Midwest - with a new team member and a promotion.
 Jamie Young, Regional Sales Associate, is the newest member of the Diamond V East Dairy Team, working with David Greene, Dairy Field Technical Specialist in the Southeast. Jamie is going to concentrate on assisting dairy producers, as well as customers in the cow-calf and stocker-feeder cattle businesses. She and her husband, Derrick (and daughter Deborah), own and operate a dairy and beef operation in Bowling Green, KY. They also manage a game hunting preserve and commodity business. For the past 3 years, Jamie has been a commodity trader for McCary Commodities (Nashville, TN). Previously, she was a sales manager with CPC Commodities (Fountain Run, KY). She received her BS from Western Kentucky University and recently completed MEAL (Motivating Educating Agricultural Leaders) with the University of Kentucky Extension Cooperative.
Tel. 270.799.7890
Email jyoung@diamondv.com
 Emily Achen, Regional Sales Associate, has stepped up from her role at Diamond V as a North America Resource Coordinator in order to serve dairy producers in South Dakota directly, working with Diamond V teammates Dr. Tom Oelberg and Todd Franz. Emily grew up on a small dairy farm in central Minnesota. The family farm has since grown to become Warner Dairy near Aberdeen, SD. She has continued to help her family show cattle at state and national events. Emily received her BS in Animal Science (Dairy Industry emphasis) from the University of Minnesota. After graduation, she worked with a dairy nutrition consultant in Minnesota and South Dakota and then joined Diamond V.
Tel. 319.866.7675
Email eachen@diamondv.com
When you have questions, the North American Dairy Team can help. Contact the team members above or through DiamondV.com (www.DiamondV.com).
Or, if you'd like to share the question and see the answer in
DairyAdvisor, let me know -- Clayton.
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Tip of the Month
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Ilkyu Yoon, Ph.D.
Diamond V
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During summer, be careful about choosing the source of supplemental fat to maintain energy intake. Under heat stress, the microbial populations in the cow's rumen change, which can alter fat utilization and increase the risk of milk fat depression. Optimizing rumen function can help maintain milk fat content and production efficiency under heat stress.
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This is our first installment of monthly human immune health tips and updates. Much like Diamond V, our sibling company, Embria Health Sciences, maker of EpiCor nutritional supplement, is steeped in science and research on immune health--for humans, that is! This month's offering focuses on how lack of sleep can disrupt immune function. We hope you enjoy.
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April 14-16
Fort Wayne, IN
June 11-12
Dubuque, IA
July 20-24
Kansas City, MO
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