Articles
Focus On Profits For Dairy Success
Click here to view as a pdf: Focus on Profits For Dairy Success By Erik Brettingen, B.S. When sitting down with current and prospective dairy clients, the conversation regularly revolves around farm goals and benchmarks. This is important to make sure the dairy is headed in the direction the owners are striving for. Different dairies…
Livestock Nutrition Fundamentals That Can Have Big Returns
Click here to view as a pdf: Livestock Nutrition Fundamentals That Can Have Big Returns By Dan Leiterman In any life endeavor it is critically important to get the fundamentals done right, or else the whole project is at risk, no matter how much added effort and resources are applied. This is true in any…
Working With Mother Nature…Heifer Maturity Matters
Click here to view as a pdf: Working With Mother Nature Heifer Maturity Matters By Dan Leiterman Not every seemingly good idea spawned with good intentions by dedicated professionals turns out to be an effective, practical solution. The case in point discussed here; What is the proper age for a dairy heifer to freshen at?…
Dry Cow Nutrition and Management: The Key to Quality Colostrum
Click here to view as a pdf: Dry Cow Nutrition and Management By Erik Brettingen, B.S. Colostrum is one of the most important factors in raising healthy calves. Besides assuring a healthy start to the calf’s life, colostrum is known to have positive effects that increase a calf’s potential as a 1st lactation heifer. Colostrum…
RFV Does Not Love You Back
Click here to view as a pdf: RFV Does Not Love You Back By Erik Brettingen, B.S. Relative Feed Value (RFV) has been used as a method to quickly evaluate forages and make assumptions of animal performance when that forage is fed. Generally, the thought is that the higher the number the better. While there…
Non-Nutrient Factors That Impact Dairy Diet Performance
Click here to view as a pdf: Non Nutrient Factors That Impact Dairy Diet Performance By Erik Brettingen, B.S. When looking for the next pound of milk, most time is spent evaluating what could be changed in the ration. This often leads to discussions based on individual feedstuffs and ingredients. Dairy cow performance starts with…
The Elegance and Wisdom of Simplicity: As Applied to Dairy Ruminant Nutrition (Part 2)
Click here to view as a pdf: The Elegance and Wisdom of Simplicity Part II By Dan Leiterman Preface: This is the second part of a two-part article addressing my thoughts about common sense strategies for dairy nutrition. The first article can be found at: https://crystalcreeknatural.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/The-Elegance-And-Wisdom-Of-Simplicity.pdf The Important Role of Simplicity In part 1…
Using Data Collection Devices to Evaluate Progress in Your Dairy Herd
Click here to view as a pdf: Using Data Collection Devices By Ryan Leiterman, D.V.M. Director of Technical Services Dairy producers have been given a new tool to help track a herd’s overall health, fertility and production with activity monitoring systems. These systems provide data that can be measured over a period of time. Crystal…
The Skin: The Window to the Immune System
Click here to view as a pdf: The Skin The Window To The Immune System By Ryan Leiterman, D.V.M. Director of Technical Services The skin is the frontline defense mechanism for every animal and as a result, it is under constant challenges from toxins, infectious agents and physical stresses. It’s more than just a physical…
The Elegance and Wisdom of Simplicity: As Applied to Dairy Ruminant Nutrition
Click here to view as a pdf: The Elegance And Wisdom Of Simplicity By Dan Leiterman Preface: This is the first part of a two-part article addressing my thoughts about common sense strategies for dairy nutrition. Throughout the ages and in all walks of life, mankind has demonstrated a relentless and instinctive desire to learn,…