Article published the February 10, 2017
IntroductionSustainability of dairy farm production systems can be measured by the intersection between profitability and environmental stewardship. It is clear that unprofitable farms are destined to go out of business. Similarly, although not as evident, farms that are not efficient in the use of input resources, having higher wastages, and consequently producing more emissions, are likely to be ...
Article published the December 7, 2016
IntroductionDairy farming is a highly dynamic and integrated production system that requires continuous and intense decision-making for improved profitability. Several dairy farm components that include 1) cattle, 2) crops, 3) soils, 4) weather, 5) management, 6) economics, and 7) environment are extremely interrelated [1]. These components and their sub-components dynamically affect and are affec ...
Article published the October 7, 2016
IntroductionGrouping cows is a common practice farmers use to manage their herd more efficiently. Farmers use this strategy to separate far-off, close-up, sick, fresh, and pregnant cows. Grouping addresses cows’ specific needs. However, grouping lactating cows for nutritional purposes and providing groups with more precise diets has not been adopted as widely as it could be, despite the fact ...
Article published the September 5, 2016
IntroductionDairy farm profitability depends on a herd’s reproductive performance, but this relationship is complex. Farmers and consultants can easily assess reproductive performance by benchmarking pregnancy rate (i.e., 21-d pregnancy rate) or other reproductive metrics, but they find it difficult to measure the economic impact (e.g., profitability) of changes in reproductive outcomes, alt ...
News published on February 27, 2014
Victor Cabrera isn’t an expert in cattle genomics or reproduction. He hasn’t spent a day in a lab running tests on the nutritional content of feed. In fact, Cabrera, associate professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison dairy science department, spends most of his time in front of a screen building economic modeling programs.
If you didn’t know better, you might think he ...
News published on February 20, 2014
The Department of Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) seeks a Dairy Management Specialist to conduct applied research and carry out statewide extension programming while based at the UW-Madison Marshfield Agricultural Research Station. The Marshfield Agricultural Research Station features a state-of-the-art heifer research facility with capacity for 550 dairy replacem ...
Article published the July 29, 2013
Introduction Dairy farmers might be over-feeding a large proportion of lactating cows when they feed the same ration to a large group of animals. Diets are normally formulated to provide enough nutrients to the most productive animals, which in turn gives extra nutrients to the less productive animals. Therefore, splitting lactating cows in smaller groups and offering group-specific feeding ration ...
Video published on May 28, 2013
Dr. Victor Cabrera, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin,was invited to Argentina to give a talk about Clinical Mastitis and its economic impact at Mercolactea 2013
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April 26, 2013