DIBS

 

 

Dairy Issue Briefs (DIBS) target critical management issues for dairy farms and dairy-related issues in the public sector. The emphasis is on “brief”, with a short explanation of the issue, the conclusion and contact information for the author(s) if you have further questions.

 

Animal Health  
  Therapy of Clinical Mastitis in Tough Economic Times (DIB # 41-20; May 2020)
  Veterinary Feed Directive (DIB # 30-16; May 2016)
  Therapy of Clinical Mastitis in Tough Economic Times (DIB # 23-16; May 2016)
  Blanket, Selective, or No Dry Cow Therapy: Which Should I Choose? (DIB # 22-20; May 2020)
  Is it time for Daisy to go on a truck ride? (DIB # 2-20; April 2020)
Career Changes  
  If I'm not going to be a dairy farmer any more, what am I going to do? (DIB # 25-15; December 2015)
  Agricultural Careers – Opportunities DO Exist (DIB # 27-16; July 2016)
Dairy Beef  
  How do I get started in dairy beef? (DIB # 32-16; June 2016)
  Introduction to Feeding Holsein Beef (DIB # 34-16; August 2016)
Facilities  
  Will changing from a confinement system to a grazing system reduce my short term costs? (DIB # 3-09; March 2009)
Feeding Management  
  Consider Dietary Changes to Take Advantage of Changes in Milk Component Prices (DIB # 43-20; May 2020)
  Harvesting Winter Annual Forages for Dairy (DIB # 38-20; April 2020)
  Feed Ingredient Substitution (DIB # 37-20; April 2020)
  Identifying and Managing Commodity Feed Shrink (DIB # 36-16; August 2016)
  Feeding Low Forage Diets to Dairy Cows (DIB # 33-16; July 2016)
  Short season forages to fill supply gaps for dairy farms (DIB # 31-16; June 2016)
  Importance of knowing dry matter concentration when buying (or selling) feeds (DIB # 28-16; May 2016)
  Ingredient replacement opportunities (DIB # 14-09, April 2009)
  In this time of tight cash flow, should I use silage additives this year? (DIB # 8-09, April 2009)
  Should I remove feed additives from my diets to reduce short term costs? (DIB # 5-09; March 2009)
  How can I lower feed costs in a management intensive grazing system? (DIB # 4-09; March 2009)
  Can I use more corn silage in my diets to reduce cash feed costs? (DIB # 1-09; March 2009)
Financial Management  
  Dairy Revenue Protection: A Risk Management Tool (#45-20)
  Financial Resources for Managing COVID-19 Market Destruction on Dairy Farms (4/24/2020; DIB # 40-20)
  Are there opportunities to decrease my current debt payments? (DIB # 15-16; May 2016)
  How do I answer big financial questions? (DIB # 12-16; May 2016)
  How should I take on additional debt? (DIB # 11-09, April 2009)
  What happened to our dairy exports? (DIB # 7-09; March 2009)
General
Management
 
  Four Management Practices to Manage Milk Yield in Dairy Herds (DIB #44-20, May 2020)
Heifer Management  
  Can I feed my calves less milk replacer to save money? (DIB # 42-20, May 2020)
  Feeding Milk Replacer Versus Whole Milk (DIB # 39-20; April 2020)
  Can I reduce costs by 'limit feeding' heifers? (DIB # 26-16; July 2016)
  Can I feed my calves “half rations” to save money? (DIB # 13-09, April 2009)
  Should I wean calves earlier? (DIB # 9-20, April 2020)
Labor Management  
  Pounds of Milk Sold/Worker - Are you getting the most out of your labor? (DIB # 24-20; April 2020)
  Communication: Listening During Times of Stress (DIB # 21-15; December 2015)
  Communication: Sending a Message During Times of Stress (DIB # 20-15; December 2015)
  Communication During Times of Stress (DIB # 19-15; December 2015)
  How to Keep Employees When Cash is Short: The High Cost of Employee Turnover (DIB # 18-15; December 2015)
  Non-Cash Compensation Alternatives for Dairy Employees (DIB # 17-09; May 2009)
  Recognizing and Managing Stress (DIB # 6-20; April 2020)
Manure/Nutrient Management  
  Evaluation of Dairy Manure as Fertilizer: Manure N and P supplies for crop production (DIB # 29-16; May 2016)
  An Evaluation of Starter Fertilizer in Corn Silage Production (DIB # 16-16; August 2016)
Reproduction  
  Breeding programs: Natural service or AI? (DIB #10-09, April 2009) ENGLISH VERSION, SPANISH VERSION