Keeping calves warm and dry when born in damp winter

  We introduced “calf jackets” and “calf earmuffs” at last year’s Michigan Cattleman’s Association Beef Expo.    We intend to have a “meet and greet” booth at the MCA event again this year with displays of our product lines.    The latest in calf jackets will be on display then, but if you expect to have special calves born this winter, we have them in stock. 

Mark Curry        (989) 984- 7027      Route services and sales/ Ov Synch group AI

Sue Palen           (989) 277- 0480      Semen and Product order desk

Greg Palen         (989) 277- 6031       Certified Seed Specialist/  AI refresher training

Mich Livestock Service, Inc    “For the Best in Bulls”   “High Energy forage seeds”
PO Box 661   (110 N Main St)   Ovid,  MI  48866         Office ph (989) 834- 2661
email:  greg@michiganlivestock.com        website:   www.michiganlivestock.com

 

The importance of good pelvic structure for lifetime cow function

 

As we study skeletal structure in dairy cows, we should grasp how “three dimensional” pelvic capacity needs to be, for a cow to succeed in all these functional expectations:

The pelvis houses the mammary system
The dimensions of a productive and long-lasting UDDER depend on the cooperation of pelvic bones and the capacity they create.    All the supporting “girdle” to the udder (both center and multiple lateral ligaments) are suspended from the pelvic bones.    A level pelvis with a larger interior spread will help to keep the udder floor level for her entire productive life.

The pelvis contains the calving channel and aids in timely reproduction
Broad hips, wide thurls and “open” pins reduces the chances of a calf getting “stuck” during the delivery process.   Calving Ease really starts with a fully three dimensional pelvic bone structure.
The involution of the uterus after calving is enhanced when the pelvis has proper interior slope from hips to pins, and has allowed minimal trauma to all the interior muscles during parturition.

 
The pelvis is the anchoring point for the hind legs
Hind legs begin with their “thurl socket”, enclosing the swivel ball in the base of the pelvic bone formation.    When the thurls are “wide” it sets the legs out to the side from the body, minimize squeezing of the rear udder between legs that can abraid the udder ligments during movement.
The closer to “central” that thurl position is within the length of the pelvis, the better will be the weight bearing on the foot (minimizing uneven growth requring frequent hoof trimming).

The pelvis can aid in ease of rebreeding cows for their next calving
When thurls are too far back, the pins rise and hind legs kick out behind the cow.    This shifts rear end weight onto the loin, which is not designed to carry that added stress;  flattening the spine, leading to abraded or pinched nerves passing across the back to run rear end functions.
Cows with level pelvis, central thurl, straight spines, get through calving easier, recover faster for rebreeding, and when you have your arm inside to breed her you find the cervix where it needs to be for easier insemination.    

How does the “aAa” process aid you to consistently produce desired pelvic shape?

aAa #1 “DAIRY”  can make hips broader, setting up the forward pelvic dimensions.
aAa #2  “TALL”    helps to raise hips above pins, so you have the proper interior slope.
aAa #3  “OPEN”  helps to make the pelvis wider between thurls and pins for easier calving.

Mating selection can simultaneously increase milk check income potential and also extend the functional lifetime potential   IF you choose bulls in this way.

Inside you will find a discussion on shifting component selection in favor of more Protein while maintaining butterfat  (what traits to consider first).

You will also find a discussion on the importance of pelvic structures for all those functions we expect from a cow   (the most direct guides to make desired change)

It is in the nature of any commodity production, that the model that produces a commodity at the “least cost” generates profits, whereas trying to maximize yield generates increased costs;  incremental yield gains can cost more than they give us in profit.    We can apply genetic selection better to lower costs first, improve yields only as they can provide increased income at a below average cost.

 

Mich Livestock Service, Inc.   For the Best in Bulls -- and the forages to feed them
PO Box 661   Ovid  MI  48866   ph (989) 834- 2661    Your alternative to “generic”

 

What is going on in the milk market(s)? How do we breed for income now?

 

The latest milk report from Co-Bank’s Corey Geiger indicates that the price of butterfat dropped 25% of its value since 2025 began.    This ends eight years in which butterfat exceeded the price for protein.    Meanwhile, this year, the price for protein has started to climb; it now exceeds the butterfat price by $0.75.     Does this mean we should change any of our breeding focuses?

The three  highest heritable traits measured are Lactose %, Protein %, and Butterfat %.   While we do not get paid much for “lactose” (milk sugars),  under component pricing formulas it is the Protein and Butterfat yields that account for over 85% of your total milk check.  Your most direct route today to increasing your milk check pay price is to select in favor of both PTA pr% and PTA bf%  (not pounds, as you have been told by everyone for decades.  I will explain why.)

Let us say you already produce 80 pounds per cow daily.    Following industry recommendations you feed a total ration that is “balanced”-- between forages (component stimulants) and grains (fluid stimulants).    Encouraged to reach higher pounds yields, you add more energy dense feed stuffs (maybe oilseeds, maybe bypass proteins).   Added energy density inputs increase the cost of the ration.   Do we get more components, or do we just get more milk, at the same bf% and pr% levels as before?   An extra 5 pounds of milk per day might mean 0.20 pounds butterfat and 0.15 pounds of protein to sell—worth (0.2 x $1.80) + (0.15 x $2.30) 70 cents per cow per day.  If your hauling costs (priced on pounds) are $2.00/cwt, deduct 10 cents for added weight; the net income gain (before added feed costs) is then 60 cents per cow daily.

If instead we accept the yield pounds we currently produce, but concentrate on raising percent of salable components, using bulls +0.15% butterfat and +0.10% protein, we gain 12 pounds of butterfat (worth $1.80 x 12 = $2.16) and 8 pounds of protein (worth $2.30 x 8 = $1.84) which is a total of $ 4.00 per cow per day.  There is no added hauling (same pounds total weight) and if your ration stayed the same, your feed costs stay the same.     Why do we get more?   Because in selecting directly for percent of components, we alter all 80 pounds of the cows’ daily yield, not just the incremental 5 pounds (what you can expect from more energy density)…

This explains why many western dairymen have switched from Holsteins to Jerseys over the last two decades.    With fluid utilizations at 40% or less, and skim milk jugs selling at a loss in major supermarket chains, these dairymen figured out producing more pounds was working against them.    They chose instead to switch to production models that produce more value.

Here are examples of  “more value”  bulls -- for surviving milk price fluctuations

525 HO 146   Garden-State Feature- P *RC   (aAa: 423615  “Strong, Tall, Open”)
He is that rare combination of A2A2 for Beta Casein and BB for Kappa Casein
His Butterfat % rating is +0.15%  (95 pctile)   and his Protein % rating is +0.12%  (99 pctile)
His calving  ease is 2.4% which is an acceptable level – generally safe for heifers.
His dam, with 145,077 pounds of 4.4% butterfat and 3.7% protein lifetime production, is a
sixth generation “Excellent” rated cow who goes back maternally to the “Finesse” family.

515 HO 402   Siemers Tao Prada              (aAa:  561432  “Smooth, Style, Dairy”)
Again, we have that rare combination of A2A2 for Beta Casein and BB for Kappa Casein
His butterfat% rating is +0.15%   (95 pctile)   and his Protein % rating is +0.08%  (90 pctile)
His calving ease is 2.3% which is acceptably safe for heifers.
His DPR rating is +1.9% -- which among bulls plus for PTA Milk is exceptional.
He also shows a +1.41 linear score for teat length--  also exceptional when so many modern bulls seem to shorten teats to the point where milking claws fail to stay attached.
His dam is a third generation of cows producing over 1000# protein and 1500# butterfat—that means over $5000 in milk check income for a single lactation!

515 HO 516   Ar-Joy El Fenomeno -PP        (aAa:  426531  “Strong, Tall, Style”)
Not only homozygous polled but another source of A2A2 Beta Casein and BB Kappa Casein
His butterfat % rating is  +0.06%  and his protein % rating is +0.04% 
His calving ease is also 2.3%  which is in the safe range for heifers.
Maternal grandsire “Parfect” is starting to show up in pedigrees of better conformation sires;
“Fenomeno PP” has a PTA Type of +2.05 which is exceptional among “pure polled” AI sires

Each of these three have physically sound physiques with durability in their leg structures.

Winter AI Training Schools—first-ever joint venture

  Many of you have been interested in attending an AI training school.    Chris McTaggart, noted Shorthorn breeder and Reproductive Specialist for Central Star-Select Sires, is organizing a few sessions to be held near Elsie, Michigan.    These will be  “first come, first served”  (each school limited to a dozen students)  and Greg offered to help Chris in the barn for live animal practice.
If you are interested in attending such a session, let Sue know and we will help finalize this. 

 

Mark Curry        (989) 984- 7027      Route services and sales/ Ov Synch group AI

Sue Palen           (989) 277- 0480      Semen and Product order desk

Greg Palen         (989) 277- 6031       Certified Seed Specialist/  AI refresher training

Mich Livestock Service, Inc    “For the Best in Bulls”   “High Energy forage seeds”
PO Box 661   (110 N Main St)   Ovid,  MI  48866         Office ph (989) 834- 2661
email:  greg@michiganlivestock.com        website:   www.michiganlivestock.com

 

How dairy cows differ as you travel about the world

 After a week visiting farms in the Netherlands, I can confidently say that Dutch AI bulls sire more femininity (related to natural fertility)  and generally have a better spread to the hip and pelvic structure (allowing a longer functional life for udders housed underneath)   than we see in many of the cows on USA dairy farms where breeding is only on Genomic rankings.   The Dutch have plenty of replacements.

The physical trend among ranking Genomics here is a more “masculine” cow, thus heavier-boned, bigger in size and scale, less naturally fertile (Ov Synch dependent), often too straight in hind legs and progressively stiffer in joints  (a consequence of “faster maturity” ) , “bully” in behavior, and more dependent on high levels of supplements to meet milk yield targets.    

In spite of a decade of sexed semen availability, we now have the most costly and scarce replacement supply ever.    How much is the narrowly focused gene pool to blame for this?    Call us if this is starting to bother you…        (989) 834- 2661. greg@michiganlivestock.com 

Selection to improve natural fertility in your herd

If there is one trait that has more impact than any other on the voluntary culling of dairy cows today, it is failure to breed back.  The trend of lower natural fertility has been a long time coming:   The oldest national AI stud  (at one time they had 1800 inseminators submitting breeding receipts, used to calculate sire conception rates)  reported that in their first 30 years using frozen semen, conception average fell 1% per year  (from 70% non-returns to 40% non-returns).

The AI industry used to explain this away to dairymen as, “well, the heavy milking cows take longer to breed back”.    But looking at genetic trend across those years (prior to Genomics) Holstein cows were only increasing production at a rate of 100 pounds per year (500 pounds per generation “genetic base change”) which is less than 2 pounds of milk per lactation day.   Surely nutritionists could overcome this?

Fertility rates are negatively correlated to increased peak production selection
In the dairy world prior to 1970 the majority of cows were fed forage based rations, which often meant some seasonal pasturage.    Dry hay was the primary forage, supplemented by corn silage at least in the winter (to replace pasture grass).     In those days, higher production cows tended to have “flatter” lactation curves, and cows who milked the most did from lactation persistency.

1970s dairy extension researchers changed the lactation profile of cows by selection, in favor of cows who made more milk from corn and oilseed supplementation.   This has led to dairy forage supplies on expansion dairies being corn silage based, rather than pasture, dry hay, or haylage.   The cows who set the highest “peak” daily production when fresh were the cows who made more milk from corn (and oilseeds) than they did from hay and/or grasses.    So Dairy Extension taught sire analysts and nutritionists to favor cows who set higher peaks, even if it meant they shed most of their body condition to meet the negative energy balance that causes.  

Useful measurements available today
A weakness in linear trait data is that the graphs lead you to believe all traits may have the same heritability.    This in fact has NEVER been true.    Sire conception rates are around 4% heritable; daughter conception rates around 6% heritable;  those levels are not high enough to change the genetics of your slow-breeding cows around to better fertility in your replacements.   IF you use OvSynch (timed breeding) reproduction, the heritability of  Daughter Pregnancy Rate (PTA- DPR) is closer to 15% heritable, but there is no data to suggest this also applies to natural heats.    If you choose to follow “aAa” you will find that aAa 5 Smooth bulls’ daughters have healthier body condition and avoid negative energy states, thus show better natural fertility response.            

A week in the Netherlands, visiting outstanding dairy farms, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the “aAa” Breeding Guide (Weeks’ Analysis)

“aAa” was the first of what are called “mating services”, begun 25 years before the AI industry developed linear mating and indexed ranking to assist in semen sales.   It remains an independent program, without subsidy from the AI industry, Breed associations, or University extension.  “aAa” survives because it is totally based in the biology of physical traits gene transmission, and considers your cows will give half their genetics equally into each mating with any bull, thus matter in mating.

Travelling with three other USA, one New Zealand and twelve European analyzers, we visited six outstanding Dutch dairy farms  (Jersey, Fleckveih, and Holstein)  to practice the “aAa” techniques and provide extended training to newer analyzers.   I am now the second-longest tenure “aAa” approved analyzer.

How often does any product or service in modern agriculture last this long unless it has proven its value?     If you have not tried it yet, it is not too late to ask for a demonstration of what it can do and how easily you make it work.

K I Samen --  the highlight visit at the end of our week

K I Samen  is the second largest of four AI centers based in the Netherlands.   The Triple Hil Sires organization is their USA distributor.    Unique to “Samen” was their own commercial dairy farm, in which they tested all their bulls and maintained a few cow lines to produce AI sons.    In the Triple Hil Sires bull book you will find the Samen bulls  (Holstein, Red and White, Lineback and one Jersey)  available here.

To me, the highlight sires were VDS Slash  (aAa 153= Dairy, Smooth, Open)  who is a grandson of their famous  “Big Malki”  bull;   Mostwanted Red  (aAa 651= Style, Smooth, Dairy) who is complete outcross to American Red & White lines;  Plataan Florus  (aAa 156= Dairy, Smooth, Style)  their first proven “Slash” son.   All three of these living bulls are both A2A2 for “Beta Casein”  and BB for “Kappa Casein”, the best possible Casein combinations;  all three are  “plus”  for both butterfat % and protein %.    “Slash”  is perhaps their best choice for ease of calving on heifers.   KI Samen bulls  as a group  had some of the best rear legs and rumps we see in AI.