Ingestion of soil during grazing of pastures and forage crops is a common and unavoidable event. Soil contamination of silage and baleage is another challenge that we sometimes need to deal with. Our latest episodes explores the whole topic of soil ending up where it doesn’t belong. How much mud and dirt do animals eat during grazing? What factors increase risk of animals eating too much soil? Are there any health or nutrition issues we need to think about when animals eat too much mud and dirt? What happens when we get soil contamination of silage? All this and more. We hope you enjoy our latest podcast.

2.25 Overview of content of our current podcast

4.00 How ruminants end up eating soil

4.30 Post-grazing residual management – it’s not only about soil ingestion

6.55 Soil type and structure

9.00 Plant pulling during grazing

11.00 Earthworms – wonderful things but how about those worm casts?

12.45 Hot, dry dusty conditions

13.15 Flood irrigation

13.55 Annual forage crops, including bulb crops (Fodder beet, swedes, turnips)

14.35 Different types of bulb crops and risk of soil ingestion

17.00 Sugar beet and soil tare

18.00 When soil contaminates conserved feeds. Risks for spoilage of silage

23.30 Listeriosis risk when soil-contaminated silage pH is high

25.05 What parts of a feed test reports could indicate the presence of soil in your silage sample?

27.20 Soil ingestion when animals have a depraved appetite and eat soil (pica)

29.20 How much soil do grazing ruminants eat during grazing?

34.45 Potentially good aspects of soil ingestion

39.00 Potentially not so good aspects of soil ingestion.

44.50 Risk of physical damage to the gastrointestinal tract when ruminants eat soil

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