A long, cool spring in our area certainly led to a late fly season, but these pests are going strong now. In spite of a relatively mild f...

Lactating cows drink 4–5 pounds of water per pound of milk produced — 40 gallons for a cow milking 80 pounds — and they consume half of t...

If you’ve ever experienced the great sense of relief that follows delivering a calf after a difficult calving, you may have also experien...

The latest version of the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program went into effect on January 1. The change...

It is difficult to believe, after the drought last summer and fall, that we are faced with a muddy, wet winter for the second year runnin...

The Longhorn tick was first identified in Virginia in 2017. Unfortunately, it has brought with it a challenging new disease affecting cat...

Fair time is here! This is a busy time of year as area youth prepare animals for fairs and shows. Here are a few tips to help make your s...

It is common to see poor reproduction, increased somatic cell counts, reduced milk production, and an increase in the number of cows that n

Spring calving is underway and lambing/kidding season is not far behind. While we hope for an uneventful season with minimal assisted bir...

The new year has kicked off with plenty of moisture on the heels of the second wettest year in recorded history. Rain, snow, mud and fluc...

Fluctuating temperatures and wet weather have brought some devastating respiratory outbreaks to our area. While bovine respiratory diseas...

A photo is worth a thousand words. Yet, I sometimes struggle to take great photos of my children. On the other hand, they're usually pret...

It never ceases to amaze me how much udder health has improved in the dairy industry over the past decade. Somatic cell count (SCC), a me...

Dramatic emergencies certainly make for the best veterinary tales — it seems to be the only thing Dr. Pol ever does — yet chasing emergen...

With milk prices in free fall, the conversation during herd check regularly turns to how the farm can continue care for their herd and pr...

Some dairy farmers are exploring the use of Angus semen in their Holsteins. While there are several arguments in favor of this practice, ...

For me, Christmas begins with cookies. Many of my Christmas memories involve baking cookies. In my family, the baking usually started the...

Thanksgiving is a season of gratitude. As we enter the holiday season, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on just a few of the many thi...

From late summer to fall, one of the most common causes for down cows or sudden death in central Virginia cattle is Anaplasmosis. This di...

Alvis Dairy is one of two remaining dairy farms in Goochland County, Virginia. Erin Henley, part of the fourth generation currently worki...