Well known New Zealand-based veterinarian, nutritionist and farmer Dr Sue Macky joins Charlotte Westwood in our latest podcast. Sue steps us through everything to do with the individual dairy cow during the dry and transition periods - from the cow's point of view. Too often we get overly focused on the detail of the diet and management dry and transition dairy cows - and forget about focusing specifically on the cow herself. Not in this latest episode, this is very much about the cow herself!

Sue discusses a cow-centric approach to managing dairy cows from dry off, during the far-off dry period and into the “springer” period (close-up dry period) and colostrum mob. This is one episode you simply will not want to miss!

0.40 Introducing Dr Sue Macky, defining her lifetime of global experience in dairy cow feeding and management

3.35 The dairy cow is an elite athlete, and should be treated as such

4.35 The New Zealand dry (non-lactating) cow period - redefined

5.10 Managing cows heading into dry off including redrafting cows for the dry period. Impacts on an individual cow with changing herd social structure discussed

7.10 Cow body condition score at dry off through to calving

7.50 Gut fitness in dairy cows; Capacity and muscularity during the dry period

10.20 Feeding cows through dry off – “don’t confuse the cow”

10.50 Immune functionality through dry off

11.40 Stock water supply and access by cows during the dry period

13.30 Late dry period through to the transition period – setting cows up well

14.00 “Calves are obligate parasites during late pregnancy”

14.40 The challenges of pasture-based diets in late pregnancy

15.30 Mob size for springer (close-up) dry cows, it’s all about compromise

16.05 How long should cows remain in the springer mob?

16.30 The calving cow – the importance of access by cows to feed and stock water

17.50 The cow-newborn calf bond

18.45 Feed, water and calcium for freshly calved cows

20.10 Cow behaviour after calving – the modern cow vs. the cow of ancient times

21.05 Milking out a cow after calving (“energy in, energy out”)

21.35 Once-a-day milking of cows after calving, it’s all about gut fill and rumination

All plants would be green slime growing sideways along the ground if it wasn’t for lignin– True! Find out more in our latest podcast covering everything from the good, the bad and the ugly about lignin. Learn how lignin impacts overall quality of ruminant feeds, and how feed management decisions change how animals process and digest lignin in their day-to-day diets. Find out how the lignin content of feeds changes with feed type and feed management, and what you can do to reduce intake of lignin in the diet of your sheep, cattle, deer or goats to improve animal productivity.

Here’s where to find the key sections in this our latest podcast talking all things ruminant nutrition.

0.51 Defining lignin

2.00 Just what does lignin mean for sheep, beef, deer and goats?

4.55 Lignin and plant cell walls – holding hands

7.10 If it weren’t for lignin, where would plants be?

7.30 How lignin messes with feed quality for animals

9.50 Plant cell contents aren’t bothered by lignin – why not?

10.35 Lignin, feed digestibility and MJME

12.45 How high is high? Interpreting lignin results as part of feed test results

13.55 Lignin alongside NDF, NDFd, and ADF

15.10 “Book value” lignin results for common New Zealand feeds

17.00 Do zero lignin feeds exist?

17.30 Lignin content of some common “dry” byproduct feeds

20.25 Lignin and NZ pastures

23.30 Plant maturity influences lignin content

26.15 Weather, pasture and forage crops and lignin

31.20 Managing pastures for reduced lignin content

34.05 Plant breeding and lignin, including BMR forages

Sliced on our morning cereal or perched on top of our iconic New Zealand dessert Pavlova, kiwifruit deliver a tasty powerpack of valuable nutrients for us humans. What about ruminants? Are reject kiwifruit from your local packhouse equally as good for our dairy cows and other animals on farm? Yes! A valuable source of energy delivered largely as water soluble carbohydrates, whole kiwifruit can be a very useful feed. However… as for any byproduct feed, kiwifruit may not always meet our expectations as a stockfeed.

Join us for this latest podcast that explores the good, the bad and the (occasionally) ugly aspects of kiwifruit as a feed for ruminants, with a specific focus on kiwifruit feeding to lactating dairy cows.

Although this is a kiwifruit-focused topic, we include content that applies equally to the feeding of other byproduct fruit and vegetables. Enjoy!

Where to find the various topics within this podcast:

2.35 Overview of the episode

5.35 The nutritive value of kiwifruit – “so changeable as the fruit ripens”

6.45 Water soluble carbohydrates (WSC)

7.45 Neutral detergent fibre (NDF)

8.30 Crude protein (CP)

10.40 Ash and mineral content

13.10 Risk of rumen acidosis associated with kiwifruit feeding

19.00 Best practice approaches to minimise risk of rumen acidosis when feeding kiwifruit

20.30 The importance of knowing your kiwifruit on a dry matter (DM) basis - and not just a wet weight basis

21.35 Gradual adaptation by ruminants to a kiwifruit diet

22.40 The protective role of a rumen-full of long stem fibre in reducing risk of rumen acidosis

23.10 Day to day consistency when feeding kiwifruit is the key!

23.50 Maximum daily amounts of kiwifruit you can feed to dairy cows. The answer? “It depends”

25.05 Feed planning with kiwifruit – the “Three Versions” of a diet that contains kiwifruit

27.30 The role for Kiwi ingenuity and innovation when feeding kiwifruit

33.15 Handling kiwifruit storage on farm

34.00 What to do if kiwifruit is overripe?

35.00 Are rumen additives protective against kiwifruit-induced acidosis?

37.00 Risk of “choke” and rumen bloat with kiwifruit feeding

41.00 Know how much your kiwifruit are costing you. Converting $ per tonne wet weight to $ per tonne DM

44.15 The paperwork. Dairy Feed Declaration. Making sure your kiwifruit are fit to feed

45.45 Preventing birds from eating your stockpiled kiwifruit, helping out your local Regional Council.