One of the most common infectious foot diseases in dairy cattle is digital dermatitis, often referred to as strawberry foot or hairy

heel warts. Digital dermatitis is especially common in free stall herds, but also increasingly in many tie stall herds; it has been reported on 70 percent of U.S. dairy farms and is very common in Canada and around the world. The disease often leads to lameness, which decreases milk production and fertility in dairy cattle.

The Painful/Acute Ulcer stage (photo 1) is characterized by a bright-red active ulcer (hence the term strawberry foot), with lesions greater than 2 cm in diameter commonly found around the skin/horn border and around the dew claws.

The Chronic/Hairy Warts stage (photo 2) is characterized by rapidly growing thickened epithelium and scaly or mass proliferations

commonly called hairy warts. This stage provides a reservoir of disease from encysted bacteria deep in the skin and may lead to chronic reoccurrence of painful ulcers and lameness.

Digital dermatitis is caused by bacteria that require an anaerobic (low oxygen) and moist environment to grow as well as compromised skin integrity to infect the animal. Risk factors for this infectious foot disease include:

• Introducing new animals into the herd• Poor hygiene, such as cattle standing/walking in manure and

inadequate footbath programs• Foot injuries and chemical/physical skin trauma• Early lactation cows and replacement heifers with potential nutritional

deficienciesManagement tools for reducing and controlling digital dermatitis

in milking cows are well known, with focus on hygiene (keeping feet clean and dry), regular foot bathing, comfortable stalls for increased lying time and reduction of cows standing on concrete which leads to physical trauma on the feet, regular hoof trimming and inspection of hoofs and prompt treatment of infected animals. Treatment of painful ulcers is required with topical antibiotics and a light wrap applied that may be removed after several hours and not more than 2 days after application. Care should be taken when purchasing cattle to ensure

VOL 16 ISSUE 4 | WINTER 2014

A P E R I O D I C N E W S L E T T E R P R O D U C E D B Y G R A N D V A L L E Y F O R T I F I E R S L T D .

GRAND VALLEY FORTIFIERS LTD.PO Box 726 Cambridge ON N1R 5W6 1-800-567-4400 www.grandvalley.com

Ian Ross, President | Jim Ross, ChairmanClarke Walker, VP & COO Mark Bowman/Jeff Keunen, Ruminant NutritionistDavid Ross/Patti Bobier, Publishers

Dairy GristDairy Grist

Jim Ross, Chairman

Dear Friends,

It’s that time of year again when we take the opportunity to greet you and share with you some items of interest coming out of the world of dairy nutrition. Here in Ontario we have had a challenging year for growing crops with a cold wet spring delaying seeding, and a cool wet summer which slowed develop-ment of corn and soy beans. This weather has caused the slow maturing of our corn and soy bean crops and delayed harvest so that there are a great number of acres still to be harvested. Much of the corn and soy crops are being downgraded due to light bushel weights and the presence of molds and mycotoxins. This is a serious matter that can have detrimental effects on production, reproduction and general animal health. We would advise that you take advantage of an excellent mold and mycotoxin laboratory service that we provide to our customers free of charge to help determine if you face a mold and mycotoxin challenge in your feed stuffs. Our Dairy Specialists can help you in the collection of samples for testing and also suggest products on the market that can help maintain appetites and production when feeding mold and mycotoxin infected crops. Give us a call. We look forward to doing what we can to help address this significant challenge.

Sincerely, Jim Ross

BREAKING THE CYCLE OF DIGITAL DERMATITIS – DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE HEIFERS!by: MARK BOWMANSenior Ruminant Nutritionist, Grand Valley Fortifiers

PHOTO 1

PHOTO 2

that they do not have the disease. Enhanced nutrition programs, which include chelated minerals and biotin for increased hoof and skin integrity and healing as well as enhanced immunity, are also part of good control strategies.

Replacement heifers in herds with digital dermatitis will also most likely be infected with this foot disease and should be included as part of an integrated whole herd prevention/reduction strategy. Failure to control digital dermatitis in the replacement heifers will result in the heifers being a major reservoir of the disease on the farm and continually coming into the herd as sources of new infection at calving. These heifers are prone to suffering from chronic recurrence of the disease as cows even after they are treated and included in the milking cow control program.

Management of heifers for prevention and control of digital dermatitis is no different than for the milking cows. Good hygiene, keeping feet clean from manure and dry, regular foot bathing and close observation and prompt treatment of lame animals are all a must. However, due to limitations of facilities, time and labour, heifers are often overlooked or control strategies are difficult to implement. Regular foot bathing for heifers is a good example of this.

Recent controlled research trials and field observation studies in the U.S. indicate that digital dermatitis in heifers may be significantly reduced in prevalence and severity nutritionally through a specific (DD) mineral program that includes high levels of chelated zinc and other trace minerals. In a controlled trial at the University of Wisconsin, Holstein steers were induced with digital dermatitis and fed either a control vitamin/mineral premix or a special DD formula mineral mix. The DD mineral formula resulted in 45% fewer large (>2 cm) painful ulcer lesions and reduced average size of all lesions. Subsequently, field observations at multiple locations across the U.S. under various conditions found that dairy heifers fed the DD mineral formula had a 40 percent reduction in prevalence of digital dermatitis after 80 days of supplementation and greater than 60% reduction after 150 days of supplementation.

Bionic® Heifer Mineral/Vitamin Premix has been formulated by GVF to contain the specific DD formula for reduction of digital dermatitis severity and prevalence in dairy heifers as shown by research. Additional benefits of this premium quality premix include elevated immunity, health and reproduction due to the high levels of chelated mineral and organic selenium sources.

Feed Bionic® Heifer Mineral/Vitamin Premix to your replacement heifers as part of your integrated whole herd strategy for prevention of digital dermatitis. Elevated immunity, health and reproduction will help you achieve earlier breeding and calving of heifers that are healthier and with potential for much greater lifetime milk production.

Talk with your GVF Dairy Specialist and together review your whole herd prevention program for digital dermatitis, including your heifers. Together with our dairy nutritionists at Nutrition Direct, your dairy specialist can help you formulate heifer rations for optimum growth including the new Bionic® Heifer Mineral/Vitamin Premix for reduction of digital dermatitis severity and prevalence as shown by research. n

Q: I AM CONCERNED THAT THERE ARE MYCOTOXINS IN MY FEED. WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE ABOUT MYCOTOXINS?

A: Testing for mycotoxins by a reputable lab will help to verify if you have mycotoxins in your feeds. I would suggest testing the TMR to see what level the cow is getting from all the feeds that she is consuming. If the level is high, you can test each feed individually to determine the source. Perhaps the feedstuff causing the problems can be reduced or eliminated.

Unfortunately, there are over 400 types of mycotoxins, most coming from corn and corn by-products. When testing for mycotoxins, the tricky part is that only about 15 mycotoxins are tested for while many of the other toxins, not picked up on the test, can be a problem to the cow as well. Mycotoxins are also distributed very unevenly throughout the feed with “hotspots” at very high levels and other spots very low. This results in larger sampling error than for typical feed assays. Multiple samples will increase accuracy and the lab reports serve as an indicator of mycotoxin contamination, with medium or high levels warning us that there is increased risk for the cows.

How do we know if mycotoxins are causing problems? Usually the cows will tell us through the signs and symptoms they present. Signs of mycotoxin interference could be any of the following: lower milk production, loose manure and reduced intakes. Mycotoxins can affect the cows’ immune system and that will show up with symptoms such as – elevated SCC, reproductive failure, abortions, cystic ovaries and discharges to name a few. Depending on severity, symptoms may not show until several weeks after cows start receiving the contaminated feed as the immune system is gradually depleted.

Mycotoxins are the invisible and potentially toxic mystery that may be causing problems in your cows. Making use of lab reports from tested feed samples and identifying cows signs and symptoms is the best way to determine if you have a problem. Feeding a research based and proven product in your ration that assists cows in coping with mycotoxins may reduce production loss and minimize health and reproduction challenges, allowing your cows to perform to their maximum potential. n

QA&with ART GROENEWEGENDairy Sales Manager,Grand Valley Fortifiers

Years of Service 12:Hometown: WoodstockEmail: artg@grandvalley.com

NEW HIRE: MARGARET CURRIE

Guelph with a BSc, Margaret has been employed in a sales and finance role in Guelph, Ontario. She has strong organizational and analytical skills along with a passion for customer service that is second to none.

Margaret will be based in Arnprior, Ontario as she takes on the challenge of representing GVF in Eastern Ontario and growing the business there. Margaret has a keen practical knowledge of the dairy industry, and looks forward to using her analytical and problem solving skills to help producers identify problems and improve performance in their herds. We believe producers will appreciate Margaret’s strong financial background, customer service skills and pleasant personality as she seeks to help them achieve their farm production goals. Please join us in welcoming Margaret to the GVF team. n

Grand Valley Fortifiers is pleased to announce the addition of Margaret Currie to our team of

Dairy Specialists. Margaret grew up in Wellington county

where she also participated in 4-H for over 10 years. Since graduating from the University of

Dairy Grist

grandvalley.com

SceneHerd&

by: ERIK ZIELEMANDairy Specialist, Grand Valley Fortifiers

ROBOT RESEARCH PROJECT SUMMARYby: JEFF KEUNENRuminant & Robot Nutritionist, Grand Valley Fortifiers

This past summer Grand Valley Fortifiers, with the help of Frank Van Lith, took on the

challenge of surveying robotic dairy operations across the province of Ontario. Producers willing to participate answered approximately 35 questions that focused on production metrics, udder health, feed types and costs, labour, difficulties and opportunities with the robots (especially during the start up phase) and a producer wish list for future robots. We will summarize many of these results in a series of articles going forward but wanted to first give you an overview of the results obtained from this research survey project.

In total, 102 producers took part in the project, an excellent count from the approximately 170 active robot producers in the province this summer. Four major brands were represented in the responses with the breakdown counting at: 70% Lely, 26% DeLaval, 3% Boumatic and 1% GEA. Free cow traffic was the predominant traffic system with 92% of respondents saying this was the traffic system they were using. “Feed- first” systems represented 6%, “milk-first” came in at 2% and 2% were classified as other. Producers were asked if they built a new facility when installing their robots with 56% of producers building new facilities and 44% fitting the robots into their existing dairy facilities.

Looking at how long producers have been milking with robots shows just how quickly this sector of the industry is changing. The 0–6 months or 6–12 months answer to “How long have you been milking with robots?” represented 23.5% of responses. Over 50% of farms have been operating with robots for less than 2 years. Farms operating for 2-5 years represent another 25%, while those in business for 5–10 years or 10+ years represent 16% and 8% respectively. The mean (average) producer has been milking with robots for 3.5 years, while the median (the number where half the responses are represented) producer has 3 years experience.

Farms with one or two robots dominate the Ontario robot dairy landscape with 79% of farms falling in this category. Farms with one robot represented 46% of responses, while two robot farms were 33% of the total. There were 13% of farms with 3 robots, 6% with 4 robots, and 2% with 6 or more. The average farm has 1.9 robots, milking an average of 91.7 cows. Cow numbers ranged from a low of 30 to a high of 366 with two-thirds of respondents falling between 37 and 147 cows.

This is just a brief overview of the Ontario robotic landscape. In future articles we will report on milk production metrics, milk quality, feed types, feeding practices and labour. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the producers that were willing to spend time with us to provide this valuable information. If you are a robotic producer and wish to take part in this research project or would like a copy of the summarized results, please feel free to contact Jeff Keunen at jeffkeunen@grandvalley.com or speak with your Grand Valley Fortifiers Dairy Specialist. All responses will be kept confidential. n

CORN SILAGE 2014Most farmers across Ontario experienced wet and difficult harvesting conditions this year. In many cases the start of harvest was later than usual and some farmers finished the season with crops still standing in their fields. On average, 2014 was a wet and cool crop year. This summer the corn silage yields looked very promising, however, after harvest the average quality of corn silage was lower, the starch level was lower, NDF was higher, and NDFD 30 HR and starch digestibility levels were only moderate.

Many different factors impact corn silage yield and quality. The different hybrids we grow set the crop potential. However, growing conditions (environment) have the final say on the crop performance. Corn grain research from the University of Illinois attributes 19 % of the grain yield performance to the hybrid genetics, 27% to the weather, 26% to nitrogen, 10% to the previous crop, 8% to plant population, 6% to tillage and 4% to growth regulators. This shows that there is a huge variety of reasons why a crop could perform poorly or well.

Table 1. Weather Effects on Corn SilageFactor DM Yield Digestibility Fiber Content Fiber Digestibility

High temperature + - + -

High light intensity + + - �

High populations + - + �

Delayed planting - - + �

Delayed harvest - - � -

Drought - - + +

-, +, � : negative, positive and mixed effects on the trait (http://www.spectrumanalytic.com/support/library/ff/Weather_Effects_on_Corn_Silage.htm)

Since the weather is an external factor that we cannot control, farmers need to ensure they get the optimum nutrition out of the silage that they have. Due to the lower quality corn silages on average this year, we tend to see lower production and increased components across herds. When analysing your silage, starch levels are a good indication to determine quality but no matter how high the starch is, processing, starch and fibre digestibility’s are extremely important to account for when balancing a sound ration, especially with the 2014 corn silage crop. To get higher production and better performance out of the cows this year we may need to supplement with higher grain rations (which is nice with feed prices coming down) or feed different sources of energy such as bakery meal, beet pulp, or wheat, etc. Grain corn is also coming off the fields at higher moistures and lower test weights this year so be sure to test it as well and not just assume it is the same qualities as other years.

As dairy farmers we have to set the foundation of a great corn silage crop but ultimately Mother Nature will affect the final outcome. Even though this years’ corn silage crop might not be as high quality as other years there are many different ways you can feed it very successfully. n

PREPAID ACCOUNTS As we get close to the end of the 2014, you may be reviewing your financial year and considering what options you have to minimize any taxes you will have to pay. If you are interested in prepaying your premix or commodity account for 2015 please talk to your GVF Dairy Specialist or contact Peter Faus our VP& CFO to find out more information on this service we offer. Peter can be reached by phone at 1-877-625-4400 or by email peterfaus@grandvalley.com.

2014 Holiday Delivery ScheduleOrder Desk & Farmers Farmacy Hours:

Christmas Eve - Wed, Dec 24 8 AM – 2 PM Christmas Day - Thurs, Dec 25 CLOSED Boxing Day - Fri, Dec 26 CLOSED New Year’s Day - Thurs, Jan 1 CLOSED We would like to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season!

Stay connected to find out about upcoming events, new products & exciting promotions.

/grandvalleyfortifiers @grandvalley /gvftv

Thought for the Day The Foretelling and Fulfilling of the SaviourTherefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS. – Mathew 1:18-25

From all of us at Grand Valley Fortifiers we wish you and your family a blessed Christmas.

NEW HIRE: MARK BOUSFIELD

The Grand Valley Fortifiers dairy team is pleased to have Mark Bousfield of Jarvis, Ontario join

us. Mark is a very knowledgeable cow man who has worked for leading breeders such as Ardross, Valleystream and his own Trilane herd. Most recently, Mark was serving the industry as a semen sales

rep and technician for Gencor / EastGen.Mark is very passionate about the industry he serves and has a broad

depth of knowledge and expertise in dairy production. His service and support skills are also second to none. Mark has learned excellent problem solving skills especially when it comes to milk production, health and reproduction challenges. As a result, Mark has built a strong reputation in the industry as a friendly, knowledgeable individual who has experience, energy and passion.

Mark and his family live outside of Jarvis, Ontario and he will be representing Grand Valley Fortifiers as a Dairy Specialist in the regions of Brant-Wentowrth, Haldimand-Norfolk, and Niagara. We are excited to welcome Mark to our team. n

COMMODITY OUTLOOKby: STEVE MCGUFFIN

A lexa Main joined Direct Source Commodities

mid-November. She is a University of Guelph graduate having completed her undergrad and Master’s degrees there. Many of you have been speaking with Mackenzie Faus during this transition and she will be moving on pursuing a career in marketing. We wish her well.

There was a large sugar beet crop this year so additional wet beet pulp tonnage could be made available. Please contact Alexa regarding scheduling and also additional volume.

With the pipeline for soybeans having run pretty much empty going into the new crop harvest, processors had reduced crush so when fall rains delayed harvest there was a huge demand for meal. With the new bean supply processors have been running at full crush capacity in order to catch up to export and domestic demand. Currently soybean meal offers are high for November/December if you can get one, with about a $120 discount going into January. For those that can feed roasted soybeans there are some savings to be had as soybean prices haven’t increased to the same extent as meal.

Be aware that this year’s corn crop has an increased level of vomitoxin which is resulting in higher levels in DDGS. If you are interested in receiving DSC’s commodity price indication updates, please contact stevemcguffin@grandvalley.com or call 1-877-743-4412. n

Thank you to everyone who participated in The Great Outdoors Giveaway and congratulations to Ken Huizingafor winning the grand prize Arctic Cat 550 Camo.

2015 DAIRY SYMPOSIUMThe New Year is fast approaching and with it comes the 2015 Dairy Symposium. We are excited to feature two dynamic speakers for the program, which will take place in 3 locations across Ontario. Dr. Kathryn Proudfoot (The Ohio State University – College of Veterinary Medicine) will focus on transition cow behaviour and management. Dr. Sam Leadley (Attica Veterinary Associates) will discuss aspects of calf health management. An invitation to this informative event is extended to all dairy producers. Please keep an eye on your email inbox and mailboxes for more details in the coming month. We hope you can join us!

Tuesday, January 20th Drayton

Wednesday, January 21st Port Perry

Thursday, January 22nd Woodstock