EAU CLAIRE and APPLETON, Wis. — Transition cow management has been a hot topic for dairy farmers, herd managers, veterinarians, and nutritionists, and for good reason.  Ensuring that a cow has a healthy transition period lays the foundation for health calves and a productive lactation cycle.

The Transition Cow Workshop, hosted by Professional Dairy Producers® (PDPW), will share the latest research, insights and techniques in nutrition and health management for transition dairy cows.  The one-day trainings are Tue., Dec. 12 at Chippewa Valley Technical College, Eau Claire, Wis., and repeating Wed., Dec. 13 at Fox Valley Technical College – Bordini Center, Appleton, Wis., from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day.

Workshop sessions will be presented by:

• Dr. Mike Van Amburgh, Professor in the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University and leader of the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System, will present a general session review of new research in energy, protein, critical amino acids and digestibility in transition cow rations. Dr. Van Amburgh will also present a breakout session of case studies that highlight different approaches to transition cow diets, including discussions of ration formulation, forage chemistry and protein supply.
• Dr. Heather White, Assistant Professor of Nutritional Physiology at UW-Madison, will present a general session, offering new findings on liver function and ketosis. She’ll identify signs of declining herd health and present new practices in body condition scoring. Dr. White will lead a breakout session on minimizing the effects of ketosis, including new research on including choline and condensed ammoniated whey in rations.
• Dr. Katie Mrdutt, Program Manager with the Food Armor® Foundation, and Dr. Jon Garber, Associate Veterinarian at Valley Veterinary Clinic and member of the Food Armor committee, will lead a breakout session focused on making decisions on whether to treat or cull transition cows.  Drs. Mrdutt and Garber will outline why saving every cow is neither realistic nor practical, and could lead to over-treating cows, over-spending on treatments and unacceptable cow welfare conditions.  Learn a practical approach to making treatment decisions.

To learn more about the program and to register, visit www.pdpw.org or contact PDPW at 1-800-947-7379.

Transition Cow Workshop is an accredited training and offers up to 4.5 Dairy AdvanCE continuing education (CE) credits for each day. To learn more or secure credits, visit www.DairyAdvance.org.  Up to 5.4 CEs are available to UW-School of Veterinary Medicine (UW-SVM), and up to 5.0 CEs are available to the American Registry of Professional Scientists (ARPAS) members.

Professional Dairy Producers (PDPW) is the nation’s largest dairy producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.”

— PDPW

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