University of Illinois
Dairy Certificate Program

AnSc 423
Advanced Dairy Nutrition

Advanced Dairy Nutrition is team-taught by five experts in the field of dairy nutrition and is open to anyone who has an interest in dairy cattle. Experts include Dave Fischer, Dr. Jim Drackley, Dr. Jimmy Clark, Dr. Richard Wallace, and Dr. Mike Hutjens. This course was previously listed as ANSC 373.

Previous students have included, but are not limited to feed nutritionists, veterinarians, students working toward an undergraduate or a master's degree, and owner/operators of private dairy farms. Prior students hail from 11 different states and other parts of the world including South Africa and Canada. Animal Sciences 423 (formerly 373 or AnSci 200/492), Advanced Dairy Nutrition, was revised in the spring 2007 semester with a new CD including information and guidelines from the 2001 Dairy NRC, a new section on metabolic disorders, an updated section on transition cow management and feeding, including material from the University of Wisconsin staff, and forage-based feeding approaches including pasture. Students that have taken the AnSci 200/492 class with the first edition CD will find one-third new information and two-thirds of the modules from the first CD. Feeding systems, phase feeding, protein, energy, minerals and additives, and dry cow strategies will also be included. For the past nine semesters, more than 350 students have taken this easily accessible course via the Internet.

The first 15 minutes of class is a review of homework and assigned training modules from the previous week. The next 30 minutes is devoted to presenting new information that is not included on the CD-ROM. The last 15 minutes of class is Q&A over material covered in class or current topics in the dairy industry. Participation in synchronous discussions is required.

Training Modules

Training modules for the class are on a CD-ROM and are on average 10 to 15 minutes in length. The modules are lectures given by the particular subject matter expert. There are approximately five training modules assigned per week. It is in the student's best interest to review the training modules before the weekly discussion
CD-Rom: "Advanced Dairy Nutrition".

Section 1
Basics

  1. Energy Terms
  2. Protein Terms

Section 6
Ration Formulation and Dairy NRC 2001

  1. Building Rations and Getting Paid Illinois Style
  2. Spartan Ration Evaluator/Balancer
  3. Using the Dairy NRC 2001 Model

Section 2
Energy Considerations

  1. Choosing Supplemental Fats
  2. Using Dietary Fats
  3. Managing NFC in the Rumen
  4. Grain Processing
  5. NRC 2001 Energy Considerations

Section 7
Transition Feeding

  1. Nutrition of the Transition Cow
  2. Factors Affecting Dry Matter Intake of Transition Dairy Cows
  3. Meeting the Protein Needs of Transition Dairy Cows
  4. Energy in Transition Diets
  5. Using DCAD Principles to Prevent Hypocalcemia in Dairy Cows
  6. Anionic Products in Transition Cow Feeding Strategies
  7. Economics of Transition Cow Feeding Strategies
  8. Feed Additives in Transition Cow Feeding Strategies
  9. Optimizing the Length of the Dry Period

Section 3
Protein Application

  1. Protein By-Product Feeds
  2. Amino Acids
  3. Rumen Protein Dynamics
  4. Protein Requirements
  5. NRC 2001 Protein Application

Section 8
Transition Health

  1. Nutritional Aspects of Milk Fever
  2. Nutritional Aspects of Retained Placenta and Metritis Complex
  3. "SARA" Subacute Ruminal Acidosis
  4. Rumenocentesis
  5. Ketosis and Fatty Liver
  6. Causes and Prevention of Displaced Abomasum (DA) in Dairy Cows
  7. Nutritional Aspects of Indigestion, Hardware and Bloat
  8. Nutritional Aspects of Mastitis Control and Somatic Cell Count
  9. Nutritional Aspects of Udder Edema

Section 4
Minerals, Vitamins and Additives

  1. Macrominerals
  2. Microminerals and Vitamins
  3. Mineral Management
  4. Feed Additives
  5. Buffers
  6. Role of Yeast Culture in Transition Cow Diets
  7. Foot Modifiers
  8. Transition Cow Modifiers
  9. Rumen Modifiers
  10. NRC 2001 Mineral and Vitamin Relationships

Section 9
Feeding Forages

  1. Forage Feeding Strategies: Hay Systems
  2. Forage Feeding Strategies: Haylage Systems
  3. Forage Feeding Strategies: Corn Silage Systems
  4. Forage Feeding Strategies: Small Grain Systems
  5. Forage Feeding Strategies: Pasture Systems
  6. Interpreting Forage Test Results
  7. PEAQ
  8. Types of Forage Evaluation

Section 5
Phase Feeding Concept

  1. Milk Fat and Protein
  2. Optimizing Dry Matter Intake
  3. Phase Feeding
  4. Manipulating Weight Changes

Section 10
Feeding Systems

  1. Feeding Behavior
  2. Electronic Feeders
  3. Grouping Cows
  4. TMR
  5. Individual Cow Grain Feeding Systems
University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Animal Sciences Illinois TRAILL

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Department of Animal Sciences
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