conceptions.michiganlivestock.com
Conceptions: May 2015
http://conceptions.michiganlivestock.com/2015_05_01_archive.html
Small steps to better mating, grazing, husbandry, and production. Musings from Greg Palen of Michigan Livestock Service and a "aAa" breeder. Thursday, May 14, 2015. Which form of lime are you using? Increasingly, alfalfa growers are discovering the benefit of gypsum lime. Over forms of lime previously used. The gypsum lime is higher in sulfur than any other form, and it is the sulfur. Release into soils that raises the nutrient energy content, acting with the calcium. Check the alfalfa you are feeding.
conceptions.michiganlivestock.com
Conceptions: March 2015
http://conceptions.michiganlivestock.com/2015_03_01_archive.html
Small steps to better mating, grazing, husbandry, and production. Musings from Greg Palen of Michigan Livestock Service and a "aAa" breeder. Saturday, March 28, 2015. Discovering lethal recessive genes by Genomic testing. This is from the 2011 September Diary Route letter. In a technology version of the Ellery Queen detective story, AIPL scientists took the Genomic data set (covering Holsteins, Jerseys and Brown Swiss) and went looking for gene pairings that never show up in a living animal. A recent exc...
conceptions.michiganlivestock.com
Conceptions: November 2014
http://conceptions.michiganlivestock.com/2014_11_01_archive.html
Small steps to better mating, grazing, husbandry, and production. Musings from Greg Palen of Michigan Livestock Service and a "aAa" breeder. Sunday, November 23, 2014. Further thoughts on the evolving science of genomic testing and evaluation. A year ago we introduced this topic with what was known at the time. We have some observations drawn from recent conversations around the world. So how have G tested sires fared in New Zealand (where G tested sires hit the market in 2005)? 25% for LIC, 11% for CRV.
conceptions.michiganlivestock.com
Conceptions: Hot summer weather and conception rates in Holsteins
http://conceptions.michiganlivestock.com/2015/06/hot-summer-weather-and-conception-rates.html
Small steps to better mating, grazing, husbandry, and production. Musings from Greg Palen of Michigan Livestock Service and a "aAa" breeder. Friday, June 19, 2015. Hot summer weather and conception rates in Holsteins. From the July-August 2012 Dairy Newsletter. Everyone knows that it is harder to catch cows in heat in hot weather, and that even if you do, as many as 60% of conceptions begun in this kind of heat do not survive to term. Sprinklers over feed alleys. Increased access to drinking water. Grew ...
conceptions.michiganlivestock.com
Conceptions: HEALTH and FITNESS traits: relative heritability and other observations
http://conceptions.michiganlivestock.com/2015/07/health-and-fitness-traits-relative.html
Small steps to better mating, grazing, husbandry, and production. Musings from Greg Palen of Michigan Livestock Service and a "aAa" breeder. Thursday, July 16, 2015. HEALTH and FITNESS traits: relative heritability and other observations. This is from the November 2012 Diary Newsletter. It continues to vary, from stud to stud, in how much emphasis is suggested you place on “health” traits relative to the production and type measures we have traditionally used in sire selection and index rank. As soon as ...
conceptions.michiganlivestock.com
Conceptions: January 2015
http://conceptions.michiganlivestock.com/2015_01_01_archive.html
Small steps to better mating, grazing, husbandry, and production. Musings from Greg Palen of Michigan Livestock Service and a "aAa" breeder. Friday, January 30, 2015. What the “genetic base change” really means. From the January-February 2015 Dairy Route letter. What the “genetic base change” really means. Every five years, AIPL recalculates the “genetic base” by the simple expedient of calculating testing averages off the most recent five years of cow birth dates and completed lactations. Equivalent gai...
conceptions.michiganlivestock.com
Conceptions: Salvaging row crops for feed in a drought season
http://conceptions.michiganlivestock.com/2015/06/salvaging-row-crops-for-feed-in-drought.html
Small steps to better mating, grazing, husbandry, and production. Musings from Greg Palen of Michigan Livestock Service and a "aAa" breeder. Tuesday, June 23, 2015. Salvaging row crops for feed in a drought season. In my travels this year it appears that corn. Is the most stressed crop. For the silage based dairy this is distressing, given its current stage of growth and nutrient demand. The easiest— plant some forage sorghum. One is to plant sorghum sudangrass. We have BMR-6 varieties. Barenbrug’s...
conceptions.michiganlivestock.com
Conceptions: One Breeder’s Experience—doing his own thinking
http://conceptions.michiganlivestock.com/2015/06/one-breeders-experiencedoing-his-own.html
Small steps to better mating, grazing, husbandry, and production. Musings from Greg Palen of Michigan Livestock Service and a "aAa" breeder. Thursday, June 25, 2015. One Breeder’s Experience—doing his own thinking. From the September - October 2012 Newsletter. Most of you may not recognize the name of. Fred W. Owen (Homerville, Ohio) but his “Owenlea” herd of purebred Holsteins was well-known in Ohio as a productive and uniquely bred seedstock herd until his retirement in the 1990s. In one particular cas...
conceptions.michiganlivestock.com
Conceptions: February 2015
http://conceptions.michiganlivestock.com/2015_02_01_archive.html
Small steps to better mating, grazing, husbandry, and production. Musings from Greg Palen of Michigan Livestock Service and a "aAa" breeder. Sunday, February 22, 2015. How do I pick out a bull who will lower my production costs? From the 2010 Dairy Route Letter. I am going to do a simple comparison of two bulls. One we recommend;. The other tends to be what we still see competitors recommend. Allow this to challenge your thinking about bulls. Tall, Strong, Style). Cow line depth is supportive of longevity.
conceptions.michiganlivestock.com
Conceptions: October 2014
http://conceptions.michiganlivestock.com/2014_10_01_archive.html
Small steps to better mating, grazing, husbandry, and production. Musings from Greg Palen of Michigan Livestock Service and a "aAa" breeder. Sunday, October 26, 2014. What makes a hoof resistant to heel warts? The dam of 179HO63. Is now over six years old, and has crossed the 100,000 pounds actual lifetime production mark with her fifth annual calving. This cow has never had a heel wart. And also has never needed her feet trimmed. Why is she different? Luck, you might say. The key difference between R...
