ST CLOUD, Minn. (4/30/2020) —Learn the latest information in dairy nutrition and management by attending the virtual 2021 Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference on June 9-10. The new format is designed to improve the participant experience.

June 9 and 10 will feature live morning sessions designed to promote interaction and discussion between participants and the speakers. All presentations will be pre-recorded and will be made available to participants for viewing before the conference and for 60 days after the conference. General sessions will also have a live component with speakers providing a 5-minute live summary of their recorded presentation. This will be followed with a 45 minute to one hour question and discussion period between session speakers and participants. We encourage participants to watch the recorded presentation before the conference and come with your questions. Breakout session will not have a live component, but you will be able to contact speakers directly with your questions.

The June 9 morning session will feature Dr. Bill Weiss, Ohio State University discussing updated energy systems for dairy cows. Dr. Jim Drakley, University of Illinois will be be explaining a new system for determining the nutritient requirements of young dairy calves. This will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Bill, Jim and nutritionists sharing their ideas of how we will be feeding cows in the future.

The June 10 session will feature a discussion on hypocalcemia treatment and prevention featuring Dr. Jesse Goff, Iowa State University and Dr. Laura Hernandez, University of Wisconsin. Another morning session will focus on improving lactation performance using high digestible forage featuring Dr. Kan Kalscheur, USDA Forage Research Center discussing their lactation research on reduced lignin alfalfa. Dr. Luiz Ferreretto, University of Wisconsin will discuss corn silage fiber digestibility.

Select breakout topics include:

• Lackluster calves – using lung ultrasound to identify a “calories-out” problem
• Interpretation and use of new passive immunity guidelines
• Optimizing the use of sexed semen
• Nutritional strategies for alleviating heat stress in dairy cows
• Dairy heifer coccidiosis research with novel egg antibodies and essential oils
• Using summer to winter ratios to evaluate summer slump
• What is happening in the gut in the scouring calf and effective fluid therapy
• Mineral bioavalability

For details and to register, visit http://fourstatedairy.org/ or contact Jim Salfer at salfe001@umn.edu or 320-203-6093. The conference registration fee is $100. This conference is a collaborative effort of Iowa State University Extension, University of Illinois Extension, University of Minnesota Extension and University of Wisconsin-Extension.

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Source: Jim Salfer, Extension Educator, University of Minnesota Extension, St. Cloud, Minnesota, salfe001@umn.edu, 320-203-6093