Production, Management and the Environment: Health and Reproduction.

The article presents abstracts of various papers related to animal health that were presented during the symposium held on July 27, 2005 in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was organized by the American Dairy Science Association, the American Society of Animal Science, and the Canadian Society of Animal Science. One of the papers discussed is "Biosecurity Practices Related to Cattle Purchases," by F. Hoe and P. Ruegg. Wisconsin dairy producers were surveyed in the fall of 2004 using a mailed questionnaire. A total of 583 farms responded for a response rate of 53%. Overall, herds contained 92 lactating cows with a rolling herd average of 8,991 kg and a bulk tank somatic cell count of 245,963 cells/ml. Another paper discussed is "Biosecurity Practices Used During Dairy Herd Expansion," by J. Dalton, R. Norell and M. Chahine. The Idaho dairy industry has undergone rapid growth recently. In December 2004, there were 435,000 lactating cows in Idaho, an increase of 163,000 cows in seven years. Consequently, the demand for dairy cattle has increased in order to fill new and remodeled facilities. A survey of Idaho dairy producers was performed to identify biosecurity practices used during herd expansion.