Real Science Exchange-Dairy

Guests: Dr. Bill Weiss, The Ohio State University; Dr. Matt Akins, University of Wisconsin 

Co-host: Dr. Clay Zimmerman, Balchem

Air date – April 26, 2022

2203-045

Today’s podcast is the latest installment of the Journal Club where we take a closer look at some of the newest research published around the world. Today we are focused on research centered around dietary energy and genomic residual feed intake in bred heifers. 

Dr. Akins explained RFI is residual feed intake, and is the difference between the actual energy intake and the expected intake based on equations. If it’s negative, the animal ate less than predicted and a positive RFI means they ate more and were less efficient. (7:38)

Dr. Akins also said that diet, high versus low energy, had about a 9-10% reduction in intake, which is about two to two and a half pounds, which was right where predictions were. (19:00)

Dr. Akins compared strategies for bred heifers to limit feedings and said both are good options. Limit feeding takes a lot to manage dry matter, animal intakes and body measurements as underfeeding or overfeeding can have major effects and is less forgiving than a high fiber forage system. (32:15) 

Dr. Akins mentioned a big take-home for producers from this study would be that diet energy and fiber can be useful to control body weight. Use NDF and the diet as a control measure for dry matter intake and make sure you’re balancing the energy content to meet the needs of the heifer. (57:29) 

To read the article referenced in this podcast click here: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(21)01092-4/fulltext

You can contact Dr. Akins for more information or questions at [email protected]. 

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This podcast is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health. This podcast is sponsored by Balchem. All views expressed by the guests are the opinions of those individuals and are not the views of the Balchem, its affiliates or employees. 

Today’s episode is focused on one of our most important resources: calves. Calves set the trajectory of our herd and represent our future productivity and profitability. In this Real Science Exchange episode, we will show how appropriate investment in young stock will pay off big in later years. 

Dr. Staley noticed in data there is a correlation between 10-week milk and the average annual herd of the whole dairy. (12:25)

Dr. Kertz spoke on the importance of height in addition to the weight of a calf. Height is the best indicator of the frame that weight will be deposited on and there are some consequences to heifers and cows with too much weight. (20:10)

Dr. Staley said it is worth the time to measure your dairy animals, somewhere in mid-lactation, to establish the genetic makeup and the genetic body condition score to know what you are aiming for. (31:46)

Dr. Kertz closed by saying it’s important to measure birth weights, weaning weights and heights periodically. By looking at those numbers a few times a year, you’ll have a good idea of where your dairy is at and what may need to be fixed. (56:47)

If you’d like to find Dr. Al Kertz’s book, you can find it here: https://outskirtspress.com/dairycalfandheiferfeedingandmanagement

If you want one of our new Real Science Exchange t-shirts, make sure to screenshot your rating, review, or subscription, and email a picture to [email protected]. Include your size and mailing address, and we’ll get a shirt in the mail to you. 

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This podcast is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health. This podcast is sponsored by Balchem. All views expressed by the guests are the opinions of those individuals and are not the views of the Balchem, its affiliates or employees.  

Guests: Dr. Israel Flamenbaum, Cow Cooling Solutions; Dr. Shimon Carmi, SH Design; and Dr. Lance Baumgard, Iowa State University

Spring is upon us in most parts of the world and the heat of summer will not be far behind. The impact that heat has on our cows can be devastating. Today’s episode will focus on managing dairy cows in high heat environments which takes a combination of mechanical intervention and precise feeding. 

Dr. Israel Flamenbaum spoke about his summer lecture and the extreme environments that Israeli dairy farmers deal with. In the Jordan Valley, cows are under heat stress for almost six months per year. Whereas in the mountains there might be heat stress two or three months out of the year. But the cooling systems are the same. He explained that facilities there have high roofs and more space and lounging area for cows due to these extreme environments. (8:41)

Dr. Shimon Carmi discussed detecting stress in the herd and using different cooling practices to keep milk production steady. He mentioned farms starting the cooling practices early will still see a drop in milk production for a few days during those heat spikes but the farms starting their cooling practices later, and aren’t proactive about it, will experience decreased milk production for a month or longer after a heat spike. (28:00)

Dr. Lance Baumgard discussed data demonstrating in lactating cows, that lower producing cows will drink more water than higher producing cows. So the cow could be reducing milk yield to maintain healthy hydration. (37:15)

Dr. Shimon Carmi spoke about research to help desalinate water which could help immensely in the water depletion issues across the world. Cooling systems in dairy facilities are directly correlated to the water supply in that area and their water availability per facility. (49:08)

Dr. Israel Flamenbaum referred to a scientific committee that he heads whose mission is finding the appropriate cooling system for every kind of climate and dairy farm. (53:05)

Dr. Flamenbaum's articles he referenced can be found here:

https://outskirtspress.com/dairycalfandheiferfeedingandmanagement

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This podcast is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health.

Guests: Dr. Tom Rathje and Dr. Jason Schneider both with DNA Genetics

Today’s episode dives into the genetic advancements made in the swine industry and the impact those advancements have on all other parameters. Joining us to help dig into this genetics topic are Dr. Tom Rathje and Dr. Jason Schneider, both with DNA Genetics. 

Dr. Rathje spoke about how genetic change has accelerated in recent years due to the adoption of genomic selection, which improves the accuracy with which we identify a superior animal. You use that information to decide which animals are retained to reproduce. (8:23)

Dr. Schneider mentioned that with genetic makeup changing, the nutritional needs for swine are changing as well. He said amino acids are ratioed off of lysine, and the assumption is if lysine levels are correct, you’re in the ballpark. But different breeds have different feed intakes and performances in lean gain, so changes to nutrition are coming. (17:38)

Dr. Rathje discussed that labor is always discussed as a big challenge in the swine industry, so we have to produce an animal that is more self-sufficient and able to produce and wean pigs on her own. The 14, 14, 21 program was designed to identify sows that have the ability to wean 14, 14lb pigs for 21 days on her own. (26:25). 

Dr. Schneider said the largest sustainability area we can increase is reducing mortality. If we can increase survivability through our genetic selection index, it’s a huge saver in less inputs to create the same amount of product. (46:56) 

Dr. Rathje wrapped up by saying research is taking place that looks at the activation of a pig's immune system and looks at the genes that might turn on. Now we have to figure out how to implement the knowledge. (51:40)

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This podcast is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health.

Guests: Dr. Mary Beth Hall, USDA; Dr. Mike Van Amburgh, Cornell University; Dr. David Mertens, Mertens Innovation & Research

Today’s episode is a fan-favorite, the Legacy Series. In this series we celebrate the pioneers of the industry, take a look back at their research, their impact and their lives. Specifically today we are honoring and memorializing Dr. Peter J. Van Soest. Dr. Soest passed away in March of 2021, but his legacy will forever be felt in the animal nutrition world. 

In this episode, we hear from three students of Dr. Van Soest who have gone on to illustrious careers of their own. Dr. Mary Beth Hall with USDA, Dr. Mike Van Amburgh from Cornell and Dr. David Mertens with Mertens Innovation & Research. 

Dr. Mertens said that Dr. Van Soest started his career at USDARS, and was given the mission to create an alternative to crude fiber. The breakthrough came from his knowledge of biochemistry and his work at Walter Reed hospital. Dr. Soest used detergents to remove protein from feed so you could measure fiber. (13:35) 

Dr. Hall emphasized that one of Dr. Van Soest’s legacies lives through the students he trained and the students they trained. Dr. Van Soest passed on the idea that you don’t stop with what you have and say it’s good enough. If new information presents itself, you consider them and test them and move on from there. (21:37)

Dr. Amburgh spoke about the lectures from Dr. Van Soest that are being digitized and will be available to listen to, which includes his popular periodic table lecture. (41:15)

Dr. Mertens recommended reading Dr. Van Soest papers on the development of ADF or NDF and AOAC. They give you an insight into how he did what he did - which was built on nothing that was done before. (56:12)

Dr. Amburgh believes that Dr. Van Soest’s legacy is teaching people how to think. He had a tremendous thought process and it wasn’t whether you were right or wrong, it was about what you learned in the process of thinking through all that. (1:10:53)

If you’d like to find Dr. Van Soest’s book, you can find it here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3sYFpiX.

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This podcast is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health.

On this episode of the Real Science Exchange we are looking into 2022 and what is shaping up for agriculture around the globe. 

Brett Stewart thinks that with the expansion of the world-wide money supply, current prices won’t break lower, and especially not in commodity markets. (6:26)

John Bedell spoke about the five headwinds, which are: increased demand, constrained supply, commodity price pressure, domestic logistics and international logistics. Of these, the only one that John expects to change is demand. (13:18)

Richard Fritz spoke on the China trade agreement and he believes the most important aspect of the agreement is setting standards for animal health. However, it is an agreement made on price, not volume so it is a very unique agreement. (31:11)

Brett Stewart addressed the labor shortage and said that as wages increase to keep up with inflation, inflation will continue to increase as well. The labor shortage is not unique to the United States, some beef processors in South America are 30% below average slaughter rates because of lack of workers. (42:47) 

Richard Fritz mentioned the Russia/Ukraine situation and the impact on agriculture, mostly in grain export out of the Black Sea which could become a problem. (55:01) 

John Bedell added that Russia supplies natural gas to Europe and that can have a lot of trickle down effects as well. (56:04)

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This podcast is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health.

On this episode of the Real Science Exchange we focus on ways to improve protein utilization in dairy cows to reduce our overall environmental footprint. 

Dr. Chris Reynolds said that moving towards precision feeding and feeding animals closer to dietary requirements would reduce surplus nitrogen. (8:19)

It was mentioned by Dr. Mark Hanigan that a small, internal survey was taken in which nutritionists said they were focusing on nitrogen efficiency, which shows the industry is evolving. (18:41)

Furthermore, Dr. Chris Reynolds referenced the variation in forage composition and that cows respond to the longer term average, not the day-to-day variation. (39:05)

The conversation continued as Dr. Mark Hanigan said a practical way to decrease nitrogen is to decrease salt in the diet. You can always figure a benchmark for your herd once you figure out what the milk-nitrogen rate is for that diet. Then you can start pulling some protein out. If you don’t lose production or dry matter intake, then you have a new benchmark. (51:17)

To conclude, Dr. Chris Reynolds talked about the possibility of genetic testing cows for nitrogen efficiency. If we can phenotype enough cows we can look for a genetic correlation and find out if it's an inheritable trait. (57:43)

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This podcast is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health.

Guests: Dr. Charlie Elrod, Natural Biologics and Dr. Josh Jackman, Tropical Innovations/Sungkyunkwan University
Co-host: Dr. Ken Sanderson, Balchem

Today’s podcast tackles a big topic in the global swine industry - African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV). This virus has recently been reported in Thailand and continues to spread throughout the globe. While North America looks for any sign of ASFV, it continues to struggle with other lipid-enveloped viruses as well. 

Dr. Josh Jackman states that over 80% of livestock and human population epidemics and pandemics are caused by lipid enveloped viruses, making it of huge economic significance. (14:31) 

Dr. Charlie Elrod spoke of balancing the need for that macrophage recruitment and fighting the infection versus keeping them away. By tamping the virus down, or reducing the viral load that results in fewer macrophages getting infected, and fewer virus particles surviving in the mucosal environment, then you’ve improved. (27:02)

Dr. Josh Jackman explains that you need more than one hole in a virus membrane to become inactive or broken down. The structural damage is really important to break the structural integrity of the virus particle. Another mode to prevent infection is with compounds that prevent the viral membranes from fusing with cellular membranes. (33:09) 

Dr. Charlie Elrod mentions that when feeding GML to sows, it does get into the milk circulation and can have a positive effect on piglets in the form of antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity. Being able to mitigate risks to the most susceptible neonatal animals would be a good thing. (47:01) 

Dr. Josh Jackman adds that there is an association between higher GML levels and reduced disease severity. The potential is huge because GML targets lipid enveloped viruses broadly. Since you can’t predict which virus will cause the next outbreak, GML is something that has the potential to be a first-line counter measure to the next pandemic. (57:27)

Dr. Charlie Elrod closes by saying there is a lot of potential discoveries out there.We need to continue exploring and bring in different sources of genetic mechanisms or more specific mechanisms like a flavonoid. This is really just the first chapter. (1:14:37)

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This podcast is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health.

Guests: Dr. Bill Weiss, The Ohio State University; Dr. Jesse Goff, Iowa State University
Co-host: Dr. Clay Zimmerman, Balchem

Today’s podcast is our January installment of the Journal Club, styled after the traditional journal clubs at universities across the country and around the world. Today we’re a closer look at some of the newest research published in the Journal of Dairy Science.

Article 1: https://bit.ly/3zCBdIA

Dr. Jesse Goff, in summarizing a paper from the Netherlands, stated animals on a low phosphorus diet had lower blood phosphorus than the other animals, which isn’t unexpected. But the animal's calcium concentration had improved on a lower phosphorus diet. (5:53)

Dr. Bill Weiss emphasized a two to one phosphorus ratio isn’t always correct. The important thing is to meet the NRC requirements for both phosphorus and calcium. (11:38) 

Dr. Jesse Goff warned that even if you think you are feeding a low phosphorus diet if you are using byproducts - such as soybean meal, canola meal and wet brewers - it can all bring in a lot of phosphorus. You need to be wary of that in the diet. (17:20)

Dr. Bill Weiss mentioned you should be in a slightly deficient diet postpartum and not meet the NRC requirements. Dr. Jesse Goff added that a postpartum cow would be pulling phosphorus and calcium out of her bones, needing less in her diet. (29:26)

Article 2: https://bit.ly/33hKjyI

Dr. Jesse Goff and Dr. Bill Weiss summarized the second article, which covered a study with an even lower phosphorus diet than the first article. This study promotes a low phosphorus diet as a way to control hypocalcemia. (36:49)

Dr. Bill Weiss mentioned that based on these papers, he thinks the low phosphorus diets in the pre-fresh and in the far-off should not worry as much so you can have some cost-savings in your feed.

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Guests: Drs. Clay Zimmerman, Glen Aines, Eric Altom, Jeff Elliott

As we close out 2021 we want to take a few minutes to look back. The Real Science Exchange was started to have a more in-depth and intimate conversation with our guests from the Real Science Lecture Series. We began in the fall of 2020 and have modeled this podcast after the time spent around the pub table at scientific meetings. This is where you get out the cocktail napkin and solve all the research problems presented during the conference.

We would like to thank all our loyal listeners around the world. We have been so blessed with an ever-growing audience. We now have listeners from all 50 states and 62 countries. We’ve had over 24,000 views and continue to gain listeners. Thank you to everyone that has joined, shared the messages and all who have participated. Get ready for new ways to interact in 2022.

Do you have a bourbon or scotch suggestion for Scott? If so, email your recommendations to [email protected] and he will give it a try! 

The speakers discuss their favorite podcasts of 2021 and what they learned from those discussions. 

Clay discusses the expansion of the Real Science Exchange Podcast with the Journal Club in 2022.  Journal articles will be selected, and guests will come on the podcast to discuss them. 14:53

Jeff explains the Legacy Series which will also continue in 2022. Pioneers will lead the discussion on the history of the industry. If you have anyone you would recommend for the Legacy Series please reach out and let us know at [email protected]. 16:53

Scott also talks about the possibility of more in-person podcasts at 2022 industry conferences. If you are attending those future conferences, come let us know that you are a listener and have a drink with us! 23:40

If you want one of our new Real Science Exchange t-shirts, make sure to screenshot your rating, review, or subscription, and email a picture to [email protected]. Include your size and mailing address, and we’ll get a shirt in the mail to you.

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This podcast is sponsored by Balchem Animal Nutrition and Health.