Prospects for zero days dry

Recent studies in high-producing dairy cows have demonstrated the dry period requirement is greatly influenced by parity and management practice. Multiparous cows that were continuously milked and treated with bST demonstrated negligible production losses in the next lactation. First-lactation heifers, however, demonstrated large reductions in milk yield. These reductions were not overcome by using bST or IMF the next lactation. No studies have been performed examining use of LDPP or SDPP in combination with bST and IMF on the dry-period requirement. Cows that are continuously milked demonstrated higher feed intakes during the peripartum period, which may greatly improve metabolic health. Future studies must examine potential benefits of continuous milking on health in the next lactation.