Conference Program

Mortality levels of adult dairy cows have been gradually rising for several decades. On-farm mortalities represent not only a bad economic outcome but also reflect significant challenges to dairy animal welfare. This presentation will discuss issues that surround mortalities and methods to collect and use information for herd management.

What's on the Fork?
Ashley Lembke, Dan Rentschler and  Steve Van Lannen, American Foods Group

New euthanasia techniques
Jan Shearer, Veterinary Diagnostic and Population Animal Medicine, Iowa State University

The AVMA Euthanasia Guidelines for 2013 are currently available on-line at https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf The revised version is more comprehensive and includes some important changes relative to the euthanasia of cattle. These changes will be the subject of this session.

The greatest challenges to replacement heifer health occur right around the time of birth. On most dairies stillbirth is the single most common cause of death in preweaned calves. This presentation will examine the challenges to calf survival and provide a framework for management to assure optimum newborn calf survival and health.

Lameness on farms
Jan Shearer, Veterinary Diagnostic and Population Animal Medicine, Iowa State University

This session will focus on the subject of infectious skin disorders of the foot; specifically digital dermatitis. In addition to being recognized as the most common cause of lameness in dairy cattle, it has now become an emerging problem in feedlot cattle. In this session, I will briefly review our current understanding of this disease and recent research aimed at finding improved measures for control and management of this important infectious disorder.

Heat detection and the use of activity monitors
Ricardo Chebel, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota

Reproductive management of lactating dairy cows - Estrus detection and timed AI: complementary, not mutually exclusive.
Dr. Chebel will discuss new technologies used for reproductive management of lactating dairy cows and how they may apply to your dairy. Dr. Chebel will also discuss the importance of evaluation of reproductive parameters to decide which systems and strategy works best for your herd.

This talk will describe the application of blood and milk pregnancy and progesterone tests within dairy herd reproductive management programs.

Genomic evaluation methods have improved the accuracy with which we can predict the genetic capabilities of young Holsteins and Jerseys. AI companies have rapidly applied these tools to improve the genetics of production, health and fertility traits of AI sires used in dairy herds. As the DNA testing costs come down, there are expanding opportunities for dairy producers to make use of genomic evaluations in managing their cows and heifers.

Zoetis Scientific Breakfast Update
Understanding the Hidden Opportunities in Dairy Replacement Heifers to Maximize Their Lifetime Value
Richard L. Wallace, DVM, MS | Senior Veterinarian, Dairy
Cattle and Equine Technical Services

This presentation will focus on the process of reducing days on feed by ramping up reproductive programs given healthy, well-grown, genetically superior heifers.

This presentation will discuss important concepts of how to get a handle on managing clinical and subclinical mastitis. What records are key? What should be recorded? How can those records be used to manage the herd? These and other issues will be discussed.

This presentation will discuss the latest findings in gram-negative mastitis and the treatment of gram-negative mastitis.

There has been lots of discussion about the need to use antibiotics for treatment of some types of mastitis. In this presentation we will review current research and end with some practical take home messages about how to apply this research to on-farm treatment decisions.

Epidemiology and pathobiology of Gram-negative intramammary infections will be discussed as well as the treatment of these common causes of bovine mastitis.

Development of new technologies for evaluation of welfare of lactating dairy cows.
Dr. Chebel will demonstrate the applications of a new technology that helps on the evaluation of welfare of lactating dairy cows. This technology is being developed by Dr. Chebel from the University of Minnesota and Dr. Mendonca from Kansas State University.

Quarantine, managed movement and mandatory biosecurity protocols are designed to contain and control the disease and minimize virus spread. In the dairy industry, the just-in-time supply practices of milk movement in the U.S. could be significantly impacted by managed movement and the need for additional biosecurity at farms and processing facilities. This could lead to a disruption of the provision of milk and milk products to consumers. Hence, preplanning for safe, timely, risk-based, permitted movement of animals and animal products will be critical to maintaining the business continuity of the dairy industry while controlling and containing the outbreak.

Impact of Emergency Vaccination in a Computer Model Simulated
Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) Outbreak in Minnesota
Susan Gale, Veterinary Preventive Medicine and Public Health Resident, University of Minnesota

The objective of this study was to describe the implications of vaccination as a response component in a computer model simulated FMD outbreak in Minnesota. Model parameters of particular interest in this study included diversity of FMD susceptible livestock populations in Minnesota, precise farm locations and standardized disease-state parameters for FMD.

Update on Milk Residue
Nicole Neeser, Minnesota Department of Agriculture

Antibiotic residues in milk continue to gain attention, especially as FDA concludes a recent survey intended to gather information about non-beta lactam residues. As more information becomes available, dairy practitioners can expect changes to testing requirements and should stay abreast of this topic to ensure they are staying in compliance with requirements.

The Board recently completed a revision of all its rules including cattle identification and movement requirements. The cattle identification and movement revisions were made to improve animal traceability so animals can be found quickly during a livestock disease event. The rule changes also align with recent federal rule changes for animal traceability and have a modest impact to the dairy industry.

Understanding animal movements to inform bovine tuberculosis surveillance - a framework for a targeted surveillance.
Joao Lima, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota

The role of cattle movements in disease introduction has been identified of primary importance, particularly in areas of low disease prevalence or where disease in not present, and can be introduced by cattle moving from an infected area.Therefore, it is essential to characterize patterns of cattle movements before a disease outbreak in order to identify which herds are at maximum risk for infection and how they relate with other herds in terms of transmitting risk for infection. The objective of this study is to Identify high risk populations as part of a targeted disease surveillance system for detection and control of Mycobacterium bovis in cattle herds.

Effect of stocking density in the prepartum period on health and productive parameters
Ana Dresch, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota

The objectives were to evaluate the effect of different stocking densities during the prepartum period of Jersey cows on incidence of diseases and milk yield.

Association of social rank during the prepartum period with health, reproduction, and milk production of dairy cows
Karen Lobeck, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota

The object of this study was to examine social rank during the close-up prepartum period and its association with health, reproduction and milk production during early lactation. Social rank was determined by observing cows 3 hrs after fresh feed delivery for displacements from the feed bunk.