On this episode of the Dairy Digest, Master's student Conor McCabe recites his Three Minute Thesis presentation he used to compete this week at the American Dairy Science Association Annual Meeting in Cincinnati. With the title of What if Cows Were Jet Lagged Every Three Days? McCabe's talk discusses recent research performed at Purdue University into circadian rhythm disruptions during the dry period.

Animal activism on dairy farms - what could we learn from video footage from activist groups taken on dairy farms? While this has been a difficult couple of weeks for dairy producers in Indiana, I believe there are some things we should think about as a result of an increase in undercover video taken from activist groups on farm.

Today's episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest gives us some information about different flies found on dairy farms and some strategies to control fly populations. Understanding which flies you have may help dictate how to control them as different types of flies have different behavior, location on a cow, and breeding preferences. Flies cost dairy producers milk and can spread disease therefore controlling fly populations will lead to happier and more productive cows.

Today's episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest gives a brief update from the Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference held in Fort Wayne, IN from April 22-24th. I would encourage you to attend next year's conference to hear about research and trends in the dairy industry as well as to interact with nutritionists and consultants who feed the cows and implement the research on farm.

Now that alfalfa has broken winter dormancy, it is time to assess the wellbeing of the crop. It is important to scout the entire field and not just one location as differences in soil types can change conclusions made about alfalfa health. The winter was definitely a roller coaster of temperatures and soils were and remain saturated today.

Today's episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest discusses why now is the time to start thinking about heat abatement. Even though it seems like we are still in winter and spring has only just begun, warm weather and heat stress for cows is just around the corner. Listen to today's episode to learn more about heat stress and strategies to reduce the negative impacts on dairy cows.

Today's episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest discusses using beef semen on a portion of your dairy herd. Many farms are using beef semen and dairy sexed semen as a way to increase genetic progress and increase income from calf sales. Listen to today's episode to learn more about the use of beef semen on dairy cows.

Fever and nasal discharge, must be pneumonia?

Today's episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest discusses some of the challenges of diagnosing pneumonia on dairy farms. While we know more about causes of pneumonia today than we ever have, disease incidences are still high. Listen to today's episode to learn more about the direction that research is going to tackle pneumonia.

Today’s episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest discusses some of the take home messages from the Indiana Dairy Forum.  Despite harder economic times in the dairy industry, the presenters were optimistic about the future of dairy in IN and the US.  Listen to today’s podcast to hear more about the take home messages from the speakers at the Indiana Dairy Forum.

Today's episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest talks about an unusual facility used to produce milk near large population centers. We will talk about a prototype of a dairy farm build offshore as a way to reduce transportation costs associated with dairy production as well as some large potential concerns with this approach. Listen to today's podcast to hear about the first offshore dairy farm.