Today's episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest talks about the optimal range for milk urea nitrogen in dairy cattle. We will discuss the biology behind why milk urea nitrogen can be a valuable tool to evaluate protein status of dairy cattle and provide insight on what is happening inside of the rumen. Listen to today's podcast to learn more about milk urea nitrogen and see if you can use it to improve protein efficiency on your farm.

Today’s episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest discusses the use of genomics to predict future health outcomes in dairy cattle. We will review a convincing study that shows differences in disease outcome based on the ranking of genomic predictions of individual diseases. Listen to today’s podcast to see if you are convinced of the potential of genomics to improve health.

Today's episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest discusses what may be the future of the dairy industry using facial and pattern recognition to identify dairy cattle. This technology is in the early stages but may have applications in improving health and welfare on dairy cattle. Listen to today's podcast to learn some of the potential uses for facial recognition software and the benefits of identifying individual cows within group housing.

Today’s episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest discusses our current understanding on how daylight length influences milk production. Research has been conducted that demonstrates that altering daylight length for lactating and dry cows increases milk production. While we are still working to understand the role of external stimuli on the onset of lactation, daylight length appears to be an influencer of mammary development and therefore milk production.

Today's episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest discusses how much cheese is in cold storage around the United States and what some of the reasons are for all of that cheese to be stored. Because milk is perishable, cheese is an option to provide longer term storage of dairy. We may now be sitting on a mountain of cheese with not enough demand to use it all. Listen to this podcast to learn a little bit more why we are storing so much cheese in warehouses around the US.

Today’s episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest talks about the use of lung ultrasonography to assess health in calves. With pneumonia still a large health concern for dairy calves and the risk of pneumonia increasing as we see fluctuations in temperature and humidity, this may be a tool to use to determine the extent of lung damage on farms. Previous research has indicated that lung damage can be predictive of future performance of an animal. Listen to this podcast to learn a little bit more about how to use lung scans to determine health status of calves.

Today’s episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest talks about what impact the USMCA, or new NAFTA, has on dairy in the US. While not yet approved by Congress, USMCA has the potential to have a positive impact on dairy exports to Canada from the US. The USMCA is welcome progress as we continue to produce more milk in the US than we can use domestically.

Today’s episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest talks about what tariff relief for dairy farmers looks like.  The initial indication of tariff relief for agriculture was announced in July 2018 but we will discuss how much of that relief, both direct and indirect, is going to dairy farms.  It is uncertain how long retaliatory tariffs will be in place but our best bet as an industry is to quickly negotiate trade deals that will allow us to continue to export dairy products.

Today’s episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest talks about the importance of dairy consumption especially for an aging population. Dr. Jim Aldrich from CSA Animal Nutrition will discuss some of the ongoing research that supports dairy consumption to promote health and muscle mass as Baby Boomers, the largest single generation in US history, reach more advanced years. While milk consumption is beneficial to all age groups, there are some unique struggles that Baby Boomers face that milk can help address.

Today’s episode of the Purdue Dairy Digest talks about milking frequency in early lactation. There is research to support both sides of increasing and decreasing milking frequency in early lactation. However, to reduce negative energy balance in early lactation, reducing milking frequency may make sense.