WEBVTT 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:15.060 Breaking free from the chains of the past Where 00:00:15.060 --> 00:00:18.820 truth moves faster than a Holstein calf No law 00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:21.660 waiting on some printed page We're charting new 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:25.300 ground in the digital age From genomic codes 00:00:25.300 --> 00:00:29.120 to robot facts We cut through the noise, no hold 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:32.460 them back not your daddy's dairy news tonight 00:00:32.460 --> 00:01:04.129 we're sparking Welcome back to the Bullvine Podcast, 00:01:04.510 --> 00:01:06.609 where we cut through dairy industry noise to 00:01:06.609 --> 00:01:08.810 deliver the insights that actually matter for 00:01:08.810 --> 00:01:11.209 your operation. And today we are diving deep 00:01:11.209 --> 00:01:13.549 into research that has generated some serious 00:01:13.549 --> 00:01:17.189 buzz across the industry. This material is going 00:01:17.189 --> 00:01:19.810 to challenge everything we thought we knew about 00:01:19.810 --> 00:01:22.469 fresh cow problems and the transition period. 00:01:22.689 --> 00:01:25.810 The mission today is clear. Unpack the 15 .1 00:01:25.810 --> 00:01:29.040 ROI protocol. We need to understand exactly why 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:31.280 treating inflammation before calving is rapidly 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:33.959 becoming, you know, the new standard for reducing 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:36.540 disease and boosting production. For decades, 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:38.859 we've just accepted a 20 to 30 percent French 00:01:38.859 --> 00:01:41.719 cow disease rate as, well, the cost of doing 00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:44.159 business. It was just unavoidable, right? But 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:46.099 the unified research coming out of Penn State, 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:48.780 Iowa State and Alberta says that acceptance is 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:51.079 costing us a fortune. We've always been trained 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:53.620 to blame negative energy balance. The cow doesn't 00:01:53.620 --> 00:01:55.819 eat enough. She goes into deficit and then metabolic 00:01:55.819 --> 00:01:58.819 issues just pile up. But these sources are suggesting 00:01:58.819 --> 00:02:01.180 inflammation is the true root cause and it's 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:03.500 actively hijacking resources needed for production. 00:02:03.739 --> 00:02:06.579 The stakes are enormous here. The sources really 00:02:06.579 --> 00:02:10.099 honed in on one staggering metric. When a dairy 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:12.500 cow's immune system really kicks into gear, it 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:15.340 burns through two to three kilograms of glucose 00:02:15.340 --> 00:02:18.599 daily. Hold on. Let me just translate that to 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:20.580 the bucket. You're telling me that inflammation 00:02:20.580 --> 00:02:23.379 is burning off enough glucose daily to produce 00:02:23.379 --> 00:02:26.300 44 to 68 pounds of milk. That's right. That is 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:28.900 nearly 70 pounds of potential milk just gone, 00:02:29.060 --> 00:02:31.280 stolen by the immune system every single day. 00:02:31.909 --> 00:02:34.550 That completely flips the NEB argument on its 00:02:34.550 --> 00:02:36.509 head. It suggests the cow isn't just lacking 00:02:36.509 --> 00:02:38.909 energy. The whole system is misallocating it. 00:02:39.030 --> 00:02:41.610 Exactly. And the core issue here is timing. The 00:02:41.610 --> 00:02:43.889 research confirms the inflammatory cascade begins 00:02:43.889 --> 00:02:47.389 14 to 21 days before calving. So way before. 00:02:47.490 --> 00:02:49.889 The cow is essentially programmed for failure 00:02:49.889 --> 00:02:52.409 or success way before she ever enters the maternity 00:02:52.409 --> 00:02:55.050 pen. If we are waiting until she's fresh to treat 00:02:55.050 --> 00:02:57.669 ketosis or metritis, we are, I mean, we're trying 00:02:57.669 --> 00:02:59.789 to treat the fire after the barn has already 00:02:59.789 --> 00:03:02.000 burned down. So what's the... definitive proof 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.740 that it's inflammation driving this and not just 00:03:04.740 --> 00:03:06.900 a symptom of her not eating enough, because that's 00:03:06.900 --> 00:03:09.219 the traditional view. That comes from some really 00:03:09.219 --> 00:03:12.000 elegant work out of Iowa State published in the 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.520 2017 Journal of Dairy Science. They needed to 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:17.759 prove that inflammation itself was the problem, 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:20.599 regardless of energy. So they challenged cows 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:23.659 with LPS, that's lipopolysaccharide. It basically 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:26.900 mimics a systemic infection. And they even infused 00:03:26.900 --> 00:03:29.639 extra glucose to make sure the cow's blood sugar 00:03:29.639 --> 00:03:32.419 was perfectly normal. So they took energy out 00:03:32.419 --> 00:03:35.319 of the equation. Completely. And even with blood 00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:37.620 sugar maintained artificially high, with all 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:39.740 the glucose available, milk production still 00:03:39.740 --> 00:03:43.599 crashed by 42 % on day one. 42%. It wasn't about 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:45.819 the energy available, it was the immune system 00:03:45.819 --> 00:03:48.280 just out -competing the mammary gland for resources, 00:03:48.500 --> 00:03:51.139 because it was prioritizing survival over production. 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:54.939 Okay, that's compelling data. So the old story... 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.919 Lauca feed intake causes metabolic problems. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.599 That's officially challenged. The research is 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:02.759 suggesting the inflammatory state is causing 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:05.759 the reduced intake and the dysfunction. So let's 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:08.180 use this new paradigm to challenge what everyone 00:04:08.180 --> 00:04:10.819 knows in the industry. If inflammation is the 00:04:10.819 --> 00:04:13.139 real driver, what does that mean for something 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:15.719 as foundational as hypocalcemia or milk fever? 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:18.000 Here is where the University of Alberta research 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.100 gets genuinely fascinating and a little counterintuitive. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:24.240 They found that hypocalcemia might not just be 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:27.139 a simple shortage of calcium. It could be the 00:04:27.139 --> 00:04:29.740 body's intelligent protective response to control 00:04:29.740 --> 00:04:32.579 that runaway inflammation. An intelligent response? 00:04:32.980 --> 00:04:35.959 That sounds crazy. Why would a healthy body mechanism 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:38.759 cause a disease we spend billions trying to fix? 00:04:39.019 --> 00:04:41.639 Because pro -inflammatory signaling molecules, 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:45.120 they're called cytokines, they actually... upregulate 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:48.060 calcium sensing receptors. In plain English, 00:04:48.300 --> 00:04:50.579 the body is hitting the emergency brake on calcium, 00:04:50.819 --> 00:04:53.399 actively lowering its blood levels as a way to 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:55.680 slow the spread of inflammation. It's like the 00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:57.800 body is sacrificing milk production by dropping 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:00.779 calcium, just to prevent a total systemic collapse 00:05:00.779 --> 00:05:03.399 from inflammation. Exactly. And this explains 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:05.959 why some fresh cows won't respond to standard 00:05:05.959 --> 00:05:08.819 calcium supplementation, no matter how aggressively 00:05:08.819 --> 00:05:11.579 you drench them. Their inflammatory state simply 00:05:11.579 --> 00:05:14.139 won't allow the calcium to normalize. That is 00:05:14.139 --> 00:05:16.420 a fundamental biological shift we have to account 00:05:16.420 --> 00:05:18.560 for. So the solution isn't treating every cow 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:22.120 the same. That's inefficient and, frankly, expensive. 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:25.079 Right. Adrian Berrigan's team at Penn State developed 00:05:25.079 --> 00:05:27.180 these risk -based protocols that they validated 00:05:27.180 --> 00:05:30.199 on commercial dairies. Let's translate this precision 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:32.480 approach to the barn floor. This is where my 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:34.980 skepticism kicks in. Who gets what and when? 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:37.680 And we need to be really clear here. We are talking 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:40.779 about... NSI's non -steroidal anti -inflammatory 00:05:40.779 --> 00:05:43.420 drugs. These are serious drugs, not feed additives. 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:47.019 The data supports very targeted use. First, first 00:05:47.019 --> 00:05:49.939 -calf heifers. These benefit greatly from meloxicam 00:05:49.939 --> 00:05:52.680 given 14 days pre -partum. The result was an 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:55.259 extra 11 pounds of milk daily for the first 150 00:05:55.259 --> 00:05:58.660 days. Second, over -conditioned cows. We define 00:05:58.660 --> 00:06:01.120 that as a body condition score, or BCS, of 3 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:03.879 .75 or higher. Pre -partum aspirin treatment 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:06.480 cut disease rates almost in half from like 38 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:09.879 -46%. down to 21%. Huge drop. And third, normal 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.579 multiparous cows. Aspirin postpartum, and this 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:15.120 timing is critical, 12 to 36 hours after calving. 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:18.860 This group saw 3 .6 pounds more milk daily. Wait, 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:21.759 wait, let's stop on the heifers. Giving an NSAI 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:26.449 14 days prepartum. That's a huge time commitment, 00:06:26.629 --> 00:06:29.449 a huge cost in labor to identify and catch those 00:06:29.449 --> 00:06:32.029 cows in such a tight window. Is the 11 pounds 00:06:32.029 --> 00:06:34.569 of milk really worth the extra labor and the 00:06:34.569 --> 00:06:36.769 risk of maybe missing that window? This feels 00:06:36.769 --> 00:06:39.329 like industry hype over practicality. That's 00:06:39.329 --> 00:06:42.069 a fair operational challenge, but the data is 00:06:42.069 --> 00:06:44.850 robust. If you multiply 11 pounds of milk by 00:06:44.850 --> 00:06:48.089 150 days, even at, say, 16 cent milk, that's 00:06:48.089 --> 00:06:51.689 $264 per heifer. The cost of the drug and the 00:06:51.689 --> 00:06:53.750 labor is, I mean, it's negligible compared to 00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:55.790 that return. It becomes an operational priority 00:06:55.790 --> 00:06:58.209 because the investment pays off so fast. However, 00:06:58.550 --> 00:07:00.470 that timing warning is absolutely critical and 00:07:00.470 --> 00:07:02.910 it has to be repeated. Never give NSAIDs before 00:07:02.910 --> 00:07:05.209 the placenta passes. Penn State research found 00:07:05.209 --> 00:07:07.709 doing so increases stillbirths fivefold. You 00:07:07.709 --> 00:07:09.709 have to wait for the placental expulsion to avoid 00:07:09.709 --> 00:07:12.069 devastating consequences, even for the normal 00:07:12.069 --> 00:07:14.209 cows we treat postpartum. Okay, so now let's 00:07:14.209 --> 00:07:17.870 talk real farm economics. 15 .20 .1 protocol. 00:07:18.230 --> 00:07:20.870 The investment is surprisingly small, about $8 00:07:20.870 --> 00:07:23.670 to $10 per cow treated, depending on the drug 00:07:23.670 --> 00:07:26.250 and your purchasing power. Okay, but what does 00:07:26.250 --> 00:07:28.629 that actually look like on a standard 500 -cow 00:07:28.629 --> 00:07:30.389 dairy if you're just treating the high -risk 00:07:30.389 --> 00:07:32.709 animals? I need dollar figures that prove this 00:07:32.709 --> 00:07:35.449 is worth managing. Right. So if we assume a 500 00:07:35.449 --> 00:07:38.389 -cow operation is treating only the over -conditioned 00:07:38.389 --> 00:07:41.389 cows and all the heifers, that's about 325 animals 00:07:41.389 --> 00:07:44.009 a year, the total investment in these protocols 00:07:44.009 --> 00:07:48.699 is about $3 ,250. Okay. $3 ,250. The documented 00:07:48.699 --> 00:07:51.680 return, calculated from the milk gains in heifers 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:54.100 and older cows, plus the huge disease reduction 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:58.980 savings, is around $52 ,400. $52 ,000. That is 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:01.040 where the 15 to 1 return comes from, based on 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:03.740 a very conservative MC price of 18 cents a pound. 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:06.139 That is staggering. Even if you're operating 00:08:06.139 --> 00:08:08.319 in a severe down cycle and only getting, what, 00:08:08.339 --> 00:08:11.480 14 cent milk? The sources confirm you're still 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:14.560 seeing an 11 to 1 ROI. That kind of financial 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.959 return makes this not a luxury, but a mandatory 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:19.500 management strategy for any operation that's 00:08:19.500 --> 00:08:21.819 serious about profitability. It's too expensive 00:08:21.819 --> 00:08:24.310 not to do this. I agree, but what about producers 00:08:24.310 --> 00:08:27.110 who are organic or just want to minimize pharmaceutical 00:08:27.110 --> 00:08:30.490 use? We know that 15 to 1 is the top tier return, 00:08:30.730 --> 00:08:33.610 but can management changes alone capture most 00:08:33.610 --> 00:08:35.529 of the benefit? And that's a great question. 00:08:35.750 --> 00:08:39.029 They absolutely can. The research is clear. Implementing 00:08:39.029 --> 00:08:41.450 management changes alone captures about 60 % 00:08:41.450 --> 00:08:44.129 of the total benefit. It's all about controlling 00:08:44.129 --> 00:08:46.350 the inflammatory triggers you can influence, 00:08:46.529 --> 00:08:48.970 which really it usually means reducing stress. 00:08:49.309 --> 00:08:51.129 Heat stress is the biggest preventable trigger. 00:08:51.769 --> 00:08:54.470 We need to define THI, the temperature humidity 00:08:54.470 --> 00:08:58.889 index. Cows experiencing a THI above 72 in the 00:08:58.889 --> 00:09:01.669 final three weeks of the dry period lose 5 to 00:09:01.669 --> 00:09:05.029 16 pounds of milk daily for the entire lactation. 00:09:05.110 --> 00:09:07.169 The entire lactation, not just the first month. 00:09:07.309 --> 00:09:09.409 That loss is permanent, and that's a hard financial 00:09:09.409 --> 00:09:12.169 number to just ignore. That means dry cow cooling 00:09:12.169 --> 00:09:14.470 pays for itself so quickly, with a return of 00:09:14.470 --> 00:09:17.950 $60 to $160 per cow just in reduced inflammation. 00:09:18.570 --> 00:09:20.470 It's often viewed as a comfort investment, but 00:09:20.470 --> 00:09:21.850 it's really a production investment. I mean, 00:09:21.870 --> 00:09:23.529 you brought up stocking density, which is an 00:09:23.529 --> 00:09:26.259 immediate low capital fix. Correct. Wisconsin 00:09:26.259 --> 00:09:28.500 research consistently shows that close -up pens 00:09:28.500 --> 00:09:32.240 need to be below 80 % capacity to reduce stress, 00:09:32.539 --> 00:09:35.139 reduce cortisol, and cut disease. If you have 00:09:35.139 --> 00:09:37.820 100 stalls, you should only have 80 cows. It 00:09:37.820 --> 00:09:40.519 is absolutely essential. And you have to be disciplined 00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:43.360 about diet. Limit starch increases to less than 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:46.019 5 percentage points when you shift from the dry 00:09:46.019 --> 00:09:48.740 cow ration to that high -energy lactation ration. 00:09:49.059 --> 00:09:52.360 That aggressive switch creates leaky gut, allowing 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:55.399 inflammatory factors into the bloodstream. systemic 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:57.639 inflammation before she even starts milking. 00:09:57.720 --> 00:09:59.440 There's another surprising trigger that came 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:01.559 out of the sources, and that's social dynamics. 00:10:01.940 --> 00:10:04.299 Mixing first lactation heifers with mature cows 00:10:04.299 --> 00:10:07.179 exposes those heifers to twice the inflammatory 00:10:07.179 --> 00:10:09.799 stress, just from competition and social hierarchy. 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:12.440 I remember reading about the Idaho producer who 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:15.159 took this seriously. He invested 45 grand in 00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:17.379 new free stalls and facility changes just to 00:10:17.379 --> 00:10:19.639 separate those groups. And he saw his fresh cow 00:10:19.639 --> 00:10:23.220 disease rates drop from 35 % down to 18%. A huge 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:25.789 investment, but a huge return. But the sources 00:10:25.789 --> 00:10:28.289 also provide an immediate, practical answer for 00:10:28.289 --> 00:10:31.169 smaller operations. The Georgia dairyman who 00:10:31.169 --> 00:10:33.269 proved simple portable gates and adjusting grouping 00:10:33.269 --> 00:10:36.070 protocols can also cut competitive displacements 00:10:36.070 --> 00:10:39.690 by 60%. Exactly. Sometimes the low -tech, high 00:10:39.690 --> 00:10:42.370 -management solutions work the best. You don't 00:10:42.370 --> 00:10:45.470 always need a $45 ,000 facility upgrade. So if 00:10:45.470 --> 00:10:47.429 we're implementing this new inflammatory paradigm, 00:10:47.649 --> 00:10:49.909 we have to track it properly. What are the early 00:10:49.909 --> 00:10:52.070 signs of hidden inflammation before clinical 00:10:52.070 --> 00:10:54.070 disease actually hits? We need to be looking 00:10:54.070 --> 00:10:56.470 for rumination below 500 minutes in the first 00:10:56.470 --> 00:10:59.549 week fresh. That's a major sign the cow is uncomfortable 00:10:59.549 --> 00:11:02.850 and redirecting her energy. Also, track your 00:11:02.850 --> 00:11:05.970 disease rates. If more than 15 % of your fresh 00:11:05.970 --> 00:11:09.710 cows have any disease, event, ketosis, metritis, 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:12.309 DA within 30 days, you have an inflammation problem. 00:11:12.620 --> 00:11:14.580 And don't forget butterfat. A sudden drop below 00:11:14.580 --> 00:11:18.179 3 .2 % for Holsteins or 3 .8 % for Jerseys is 00:11:18.179 --> 00:11:20.519 a measurable sign of inflammation hijacking fat 00:11:20.519 --> 00:11:23.220 and glucose utilization. These metrics give you 00:11:23.220 --> 00:11:25.080 an early warning system that is accessible in 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:26.960 your management software right now. The biggest 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:28.919 challenge, though, as the source material noted, 00:11:29.059 --> 00:11:32.759 isn't the data. It's the cultural shift. Most 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:34.960 vets and nutritionists were trained on the old 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.169 metabolic theories of the 1990s. They need to 00:11:38.169 --> 00:11:40.289 see the proof. That's why I liked the success 00:11:40.289 --> 00:11:42.690 story of the Wisconsin producer. He ran a 90 00:11:42.690 --> 00:11:45.370 day side by side trial with his vet, treated 00:11:45.370 --> 00:11:47.289 half the high risk group with the new protocols, 00:11:47.529 --> 00:11:50.029 tracked the controls. They saw the disease drop 00:11:50.029 --> 00:11:52.549 from 31 percent to 18 percent in the treatment 00:11:52.549 --> 00:11:55.970 group. Data beats assumptions every time. Producers 00:11:55.970 --> 00:11:57.970 need to prove it on their own farms to change 00:11:57.970 --> 00:12:00.120 the culture around them. All right, you've finished 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:02.759 milking and are heading to the feed store. You 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:05.039 need practical, immediate steps to integrate 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:07.740 this deep dive into your operation. Let's give 00:12:07.740 --> 00:12:09.700 you the three actionable takeaways you need to 00:12:09.700 --> 00:12:13.000 apply today. Immediate action this week. Prioritize 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:15.759 stocking density in your close -up pens. Use 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:17.639 existing space or portable gates to get below 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:20.440 80 % capacity by adjusting group movements. This 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:22.580 is free milk, and if you're starting postpartum 00:12:22.580 --> 00:12:24.720 treatment, put a rigid zero -tolerance protocol 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:28.259 in place. No NSAIs until the placenta has passed. 00:12:28.750 --> 00:12:31.370 Medium -term strategy, next three to six months. 00:12:31.549 --> 00:12:34.009 Start a targeted treatment trial on your highest 00:12:34.009 --> 00:12:36.710 risk groups, your heifers and your over -conditioned 00:12:36.710 --> 00:12:39.289 cows, and track the results against untreated 00:12:39.289 --> 00:12:42.309 controls. Use your management software to monitor 00:12:42.309 --> 00:12:44.870 those rumination dips and butterfat changes as 00:12:44.870 --> 00:12:47.450 your early inflammation warning signs. You need 00:12:47.450 --> 00:12:49.889 that data to convince your team. And long -term 00:12:49.889 --> 00:12:52.789 positioning. Next one to two years, invest in 00:12:52.789 --> 00:12:55.850 dry cow cooling. The persistent, expensive production 00:12:55.850 --> 00:12:59.149 losses, 5 to 16 pounds of milk loss for the entire 00:12:59.149 --> 00:13:02.149 lactation make, cooling a non -negotiable expense 00:13:02.149 --> 00:13:04.809 for preventing inflammation and maximizing profit. 00:13:05.129 --> 00:13:07.730 That investment returns 10 times over. This has 00:13:07.730 --> 00:13:09.909 been another deep dive from the Bullvine podcast. 00:13:10.370 --> 00:13:12.750 If this kind of hard data analysis helps your 00:13:12.750 --> 00:13:16.330 operation, head to www .thebullvine .com for 00:13:16.330 --> 00:13:18.230 more articles that tell you what's really happening 00:13:18.230 --> 00:13:20.450 in dairy. And seriously, subscribe wherever you 00:13:20.450 --> 00:13:22.330 get your deep dives. We're releasing sessions 00:13:22.330 --> 00:13:24.529 twice weekly now, and trust me, you do not want 00:13:24.529 --> 00:13:26.750 to miss what we've got coming next week. A deep 00:13:26.750 --> 00:13:29.009 dive into microbiome analysis and how it's getting 00:13:29.009 --> 00:13:31.269 close to commercial reality, predicting ketosis 00:13:31.269 --> 00:13:33.809 before symptoms even appear. That's preemptive 00:13:33.809 --> 00:13:34.049 medicine.