First 2014 Dairy NAHMS Report Released
April 4, 2016
In March, the USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) released Dairy Cattle Management Practices in the United States, 2014, the first report from its Dairy 2014 study. Dairy 2014 is NAHMS sixth study of the U.S. dairy industry. The study was conducted in 17 of the nation’s major dairy states, covering 76.7 percent of U.S. dairy operations and 80.3 percent of U.S. dairy cows. USDA will release additional reports in the next year.
A few highlights of the report include:
- Rolling herd average (RHA) milk production was 19,932 lb./cow. RHA milk production for grazing and organic operations was similar (14,513 and 14,758 lb./cow, respectively).
- Overall, 47.5 percent of operations had accessed the Internet for dairy information during 2013. Internet use generally increased as herd size increased, with 31.6 percent of very small operations (fewer than 30 cows) accessing the Internet for dairy information compared with 89.7 percent of large operations (500 or more cows).
- The percentage of operations that administered vaccines to cows increased as herd size increased. Overall, 73.8 percent of operations administered any vaccine to cows. More than half of operations administered vaccines against BVD (68.0 percent), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (60.2 percent), parainfluenza type 3 (55.8 percent), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (54.8 percent), or leptospirosis (51.5 percent).
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