WHAT IS THE IDEAL RATIO OF BUTTERFAT% TO PROTEIN% FOR CHEESE?

  

CONCEPTIONS   Dairy Route Newsletter             Feb-March 2026

Mark Curry        (989) 984- 7027      Route service and sales

Sue Palen           (989) 277- 0480      Office manager, orders coordinator

Greg Palen         (989) 277- 6031      “aAa” Breeding Guide, certified seed specialist

MICH LIVESTOCK SERVICE, Inc   “For the Best in Bulls” and “High Energy Forages”
110 N Main St   (PO Box 661)   Ovid,  MI  48866   *** phone (989) 834- 2661  fax (989) 834- 2914
www.michiganlivestock.com        email:  greg@michiganlivestock.com         (also on “Facebook”)

 

Hilmar Cheese Company in central California was founded by a dozen committed Jersey dairies who were struggling for profitability back in the 1980s under California’s “fat quota” pricing (an order that believed animal fats were health trouble for humans, and which assumed most milk was going into a bottle rather than into butterfat or casein products, typical of USDA’s thinking).

Today, Hilmar is a nationally recognized cheese producer and the Jersey dairies who are primary suppliers to their plant are very healthy financially.    The blend of milk they process daily is in a ratio of 4.5% butterfat to 3.6% protein.    Over 80% of the cows whose milk flows to Hilmar are BB for Kappa Casein (of which the Jersey breed is the clear leader), and the “cheese yield” from this milk is substantially higher (15% more) than you find in typical cheese plants utilizing milk from a cooperative pool.    

As the traditional Jersey cow was always 5% butterfat (or even higher, a few cows reaching 7%) why would a cheese plant owned by Jersey dairymen not seek for that level today?   Simply that the limiting factor is the percentage of protein.     When 5% Jersey milk was desired for cheese, the typical Jersey also produced 4% protein…  80% of the level of butterfat.    As we bred Jerseys to milk more, the percentage of components declined, but the ratio between pr% and bf% that is desired for direct-vat cheese-making is still easily achieved in the Jersey breed.

The same can be said for Brown Swiss, and the traditional “Swiss Cheese” was able to be made directly from Brown Swiss milk without any skimming  (4.2% bf and 3.4% pr with high frequency of BB Kappa Casein).    BB Kappa Casein gives you the highest curd forming milk in any breed.

 

Should a replacement heifer look like a well-fed steer ?

      When you put it that way, I expect you would all say “NO”.    According to Dr Jan Bonsma (late of South Africa (as well as Texas A&M) back into the 1970s), his studies in endocrinology (glandular functions)  led him to postulate,  “Bulls should look masculine, and the best ones will produce a cow that looks feminine.”    Cows with a “bully” (blocky) look generally do not have an optimal level of natural fertility, nor are they reliably “maternal” in behavior at and after calving.

Statistically, the beef “breed” with the poorest breeding record is the “Club Calf composite”.   It is not that surprising given that the primary genetic selection criteria in club calf breeding is the ability to grow coarse hair and the predominance of steer traits in the physique.   After a couple generations of such bulls, the retained females start to look more “clubby” than truly feminine.   With the decline of feminine qualities, natural fertility follows, and then maternal behavior.

Given the prevalence of CIDR use and OvSynch to get “clubby” females bred for optimal calving dates, loss of natural fertility  (which occurs gradually over generations)  is not always detected.   But it should be a consideration in which females you need for commercial beef replacements.

Growth rates are also not always as good in clubby herds as they might be in straight-bred cow herds, as well.    While the original clubby bulls  (representing three way crosses)  exhibited lots of hybrid vigor, this disappears when crossbred cows get bred to crossbred bulls over multiple generations.    Studies in both Beef and Dairy herds have shown that when using crossbred bulls we get better results in growth rates and the feminine quality of heifers if their dams are mostly purebred cows  (especially those sired by successfully linebred bulls).    

Maintaining heterosis  (hybrid vigor)  is easier when one side of the mating is linebred.    You get consistency from the linebred cows, while you get genotype variation from the crossbred bulls.    Clubby bull lines began from the desire to gain the heterosis possible from two and three way breed crosses among performance-type sires.     But the availability of straight-breed cows to be bred at that time is what made the whole process work spectacularly at first.   

Tri Shield - The premium choice to provide calf immunity to scours

   ImmuCell Corporation in Portland Maine has been producing ORAL scours vaccines for a couple decades.    This is a colostrum-based product:  Tri-Shield is drawn from healthy cows vaccinated for three major causes of calf scours deaths:    Rotavirus     Coronavirus     K99 E. Coli

This product was developed to be their successor to “First Defense”, which covered two of the three diseases listed above.    We sold  “First Defense”  successfully for years, so it was exciting when this new “three way” oral vaccine came on the market.

Production is now catching up to demand and we are keeping stock in our store.    This should be refrigerated until you are ready to use it.    There are twelve single-dose syringes in a box.

We also have available for delivery, cidrs for timed breedings and estrotect stickers for heat detection. 

How old is your semen tank ?

    We have three models of new “state of the art” semen tanks always in stock here.    We will be displaying them at Michigan Beef Expo if you have been thinking about trading up.    Two of the models are 20 week holding time (great if you are storing embryos) while the larger capacity model is rated for 12 to 16 weeks.     

What it takes for a persistent alfalfa stand (new insights)

     Alfalfa has been getting a lot of attention from forage research lately, given concerns that the big seed marketing brands  (generally owned by chemical companies today)  have been selling off or dropping their premium alfalfa lines.     Industry observers site three reasons:  (1) these companies make more money producing corn and soybean seed than alfalfa:  (2)  over the last twenty years, alfalfa growing farms have plateaued yields around 4 tons per acre  (bringing all the genetic selection efforts  into question):   (3)  RoundUp Ready alfalfa never got further than the irrigated fields of Idaho, costing 50% more than conventional seed without promising any increased yields.     Conventional seed sales volume plateaued for several years now.

A new technique for extending alfalfa stand life  

We already knew that the ideal soil pH for alfalfa to grow and persist is 6.5.      Less thought has been put into the ideal soil nutrient ratio for alfalfa, which is 20 parts Carbon to 1 part Nitrogen. Soil microbial populations that feed nutrients to the alfalfa roots are maintained at these levels.

During the harvesting season, each cutting removes carbon.    Alfalfa leaves are not that great at drawing in carbon dioxide (grass species are much superior to legumes in this process).    Thus a “pure” alfalfa stand will begin to die off just from periodic harvesting.     Mixed stands of alfalfa and improved grasses do much better (the alfalfa draws in nitrogen to root zones, and the grass draws in carbon to the root zones);  thus yields from mixed alfalfa-grass stands will be greater over the life of the stand.    But if you planted “pure” alfalfa, just overseed forage oats into the alfalfa stand after last cutting, and they will restore carbon to the soil.   The oats die off during winter, and you will see a more vigorous alfalfa regrowth in the spring!!

Great Lakes  Forage and Grazing  Conference   March 19, 2026
CTE John C Magnus Center:     3200 S Clare Ave.—Clare MI          9:00 am to 3:00 pm

This event happens once a year, with interesting speakers and topical breakout sessions.  The annual business meeting of Michigan Forage Council including election of rotating directors is held in the idle of the day.    If you register before March 15, admission is $65 (includes lunch).
To register online, go to https://bit.ly/GLFGC2026...  Or call Brittany Schultz (989) 426- 7741.

AI technique training schools happening

    We have partnered with Chris McTaggart, AI technique trainer for Central Star/Select Sires, on a  breeding schools which will be held in Elsie this January.    This schools is already full;  however, Chris says he is trying to do another session in March but will be at a different location to be determined.   If this is of interest to you, let us know and give us your email and we will keep you updated on what gets scheduled.

 

Mark Curry      (989) 984- 7027    Route sales and services

Sue Palen         (989) 277- 0480    Products and Order desk

Greg Palen       (989) 277- 6031    Certified Seed Specialist

Mich Livestock Service, Inc ***     “For the best in Bulls”    “High Energy Forages”
110 N Main St  (PO Box 661)   Ovid,  MI  48866 ***  phone (989) 834- 2661   fax (989) 834- 2914
email:  greg@michiganlivestock.com     website:  www.michiganlivestock.com     (also Facebook)
Spring  calving  coming  soon:    Ordering  semen  for  spring  breeding  

How efficient is your semen tank?

Semen tanks are not all alike.    We have now used cryogenic (liquid nitrogen) semen storage for sixty years in the cattle breeding industry.    Some 30/ 40/ 50 year old equipment is still in use.    This is amazing, given the more reputable tank builders still only warranty new tanks for five years…    

Considerations in choice of tanks
The first question is,  “does my tank retain a nitrogen charge a practical length of time, so that it fits into available service routes?”     For most people this will mean a tank capable of a 12-week hold, so it has a safety margin on our eight-week service schedule (we could get snowed out of your neighborhood for a week in a bad winter storm, or have a truck breakdown that takes us a week to get fixed).

The second question is, “am I going to be storing any embryos?”    The embryo is so much more complex than the sperm cell, making it more fragile, it is best it remain as much as possible in liquid nitrogen immersion.    Thus with eight week service routes, tank that has a safety margin after sixteen weeks (such as the newest 20-week hold time models) would insure your embryo is not forced to rise to vapor temperature (-140 F) and plunge back down to liquid temperature (-320 F) on a recurring basis.

The third question is, “how much semen am I going to be stocking?”    We all seem to have the tendency to let semen inventory “breed” (multiply) in our tanks.    Once canisters are filled with canes, it is harder to locate the bull you intend to breed with, maybe harder to extract a straw with the canes all gripping each other.    Newer model tanks of standard size have slightly larger canisters than the earlier models, thus IF you can discipline your buying, you can avoid making the straw extraction from the canister for each breeding slower, putting your stored semen at risk of damage from temperatures rising above -140 F vapor temperature.

The fourth question is, “am I a breeder collecting herdsires, thus needing more tank capacity?”   Keep in mind that larger capacity tanks, especially with bigger neck tube openings to handle wider canisters, cannot retain nitrogen as long as standard size tanks.    You might consider an option to store semen beyond your seasonal use at a storage facility rather than have it all on your ranch.    Otherwise, to spread risk, you could have multiple tanks on site and not keep all of your rare herdsire in a single tank  (eventually, every tank ever made is going to fail—we just have to be prepared for a possibility we do not catch it before it goes “warm” and spoils all the semen content in it.

Mark measures every tank we fill, before he puts nitrogen in it.    Those measurements get written at the bottom of your delivery invoice.    Thus we try to help you monitor each tank.