The Moos Room™

Brad explores a recent study comparing two common calf-feeding methods: open buckets and nipple buckets. While most U.S. dairies rely on open buckets because they allow calves to drink quickly and reduce chore time, the research looked at how these systems affect calf growth, digestion, and behavior.

The study followed individually housed calves fed six liters of milk per day until weaning at eight weeks. Calves fed with open buckets finished their milk much faster, often in under two minutes, while nipple-fed calves took about five minutes because the system mimics natural suckling. Despite the difference...

 Brad shares results from a large national research project examining somatic cell count (SCC) and mastitis risk in U.S. organic dairy herds, using more than 2 million DHI test-day records from 430 farms across 31 states. The discussion highlights how SCC is influenced by multiple factors, including cow age, stage of lactation, milk production, breed, season, region, and herd size. Older cows, early-lactation animals, and lower-producing cows were most likely to have elevated SCC, while heat stress—especially during summer months—and larger herd size significantly increased risk. Because organic systems cannot rely on antibiotics, Brad emphasizes prevention strategies such as impro...

In this solo episode, Brad shares a few recent herd-health case studies from his dairy, highlighting the value of diagnostics and transparency.

He walks through two calf losses—one at 60 days old and another at 9 months. Both animals had been treated for common issues but continued to decline. Necropsies revealed severe heart abnormalities in each case (thin, underdeveloped ventricles), pointing toward possible genetic or nutritional causes. The takeaway: without a necropsy, these would have remained unexplained losses.

Brad also discusses a recent abortion in a dry cow. Diagnostic testing ruled out BVD and IBR and id...

Emily and Brad re-record this episode of The Moos Room after a technical glitch wiped out Emily’s audio—and dive into a big question: What does the dairy cow of the future look like?

Inspired by a recent Journal of Dairy Science paper, they move beyond the classic Holstein vs. Jersey debate to discuss a more balanced vision. Instead of selecting for maximum milk at all costs, the future cow will prioritize resilience, fertility, longevity, feed efficiency, and environmental sustainability.

They explore how genomics must be paired with real-world performance data (phenotypes), how...

Calf prices are making headlines, and in this episode Emily and Brad are joined by UMN Extension beef educator Melissa Runck to talk through what today’s hot beef and beef-on-dairy markets mean for producers.

They discuss why newborn beef-cross calves are bringing record prices, how that cash can help dairy farms when milk prices are low, and what the latest Cattle on Feed report tells us about declining inventories and producers’ reluctance to keep heifers as replacements. The group then dives into beef-on-dairy sire selection, emphasizing realistic goals over the search for a “perfect” bull, the importan...

On a warm-for-February day in Minnesota, Brad dives into two topics shaping today’s dairy landscape: changing dairy herd demographics in the Upper Midwest and new research on dairy cow preferences for grooming brushes.

The episode opens with a look at dairy farm numbers in Minnesota, where the state has lost nearly 37% of its dairy farms since 2019—dropping from 2,567 to just 1,622 operations. Brad breaks down herd size distribution, showing Minnesota remains dominated by small herds (especially 50–100 cows), even as the number of very large herds continues to grow. He also highlights where dairy farms are concentrated geographically, with S...

Brad checks in from a brutally cold stretch in western Minnesota (30–40°F below zero), noting the cows are handling it well and somatic cell counts tend to run low in the extreme cold. He then walks listeners through how he thinks about sire selection in his research herd—mostly Holsteins, plus Jerseys and a few “colored breeds” like Norwegian Red, Montbéliarde, and Normande.

His selection philosophy is clear: he starts with Net Merit, but he doesn’t blindly follow it. Brad says he doesn’t chase milk pounds, and he wishes the major indexes put more emphasis on fe...

In this solo episode of The Moos Room, Brad shares “hot off the press” research on circadian rhythms in dairy cows and what long-term sensor data can tell us about cow welfare. Drawing from a study presented at the International Precision Dairy Farming Conference in New Zealand, the episode explores how daily and seasonal behavior patterns—such as eating, rumination, activity, and rest—are shaped by environment, management, and breed.

Using more than 10 years of CowManager sensor data from the University of Minnesota research herd, Brad walks through how different breeds (Holsteins, crossbreds, graze-cross cows, and 1964 Holstein genetics...

In this solo “Emily Show” episode of The Moos Room, Emily takes a timely look at mastitis management during the winter months. While mastitis and high somatic cell counts are often associated with summer heat and humidity, Emily reminds listeners that cold weather brings its own risks and requires just as much attention to udder health.

She begins by emphasizing the foundation of mastitis prevention: clean, dry bedding, cow comfort, and good ventilation. These basics reduce stress on cows and limit bacterial exposure, which is especially important when winter conditions can lead to damp or dirty housing.

In the first episode of 2026, Emily and Brad kick off a New Year’s “resolution” to record more episodes together and dive into one of their favorite themes: management. The conversation is sparked by a German case study Brad found that followed 10 German dairy herd managers (average ~600 cows; range 200–1,200) for three weeks, tracking their work minute-by-minute to see how managers spend time—and what actually drives herd performance.

The key concept is “controlling activities,” defined as proactive checks and analysis (not just reacting and “putting out fires”). They break these into three categories: animal controls (pen walks, fresh/sick cow mon...

In the final episode of 2025, Emily and Brad reflect on another big year for The Moos Room, marking more than 300 episodes since launching in 2019. They look back on key 2025 topics, including real-world dairy case studies from the Morris Research Dairy, health and safety conversations, emerging disease issues, beef markets, virtual fencing, and growing interest in agrivoltaics.

Brad highlights the value of openly sharing on-farm challenges—from calf health issues to nutrition troubleshooting—so listeners can learn alongside the research process. Emily shares how 2025 deepened her understanding of virtual fencing, renewable energy in agriculture, and farm safety, while cont...

In this short solo episode of The Moos Room, Emily takes the mic to talk about managing holiday stress through setting healthy boundaries. With the holidays approaching, Emily shares practical guidance on navigating family dynamics, uncomfortable conversations, and competing demands on time and energy.

She outlines three simple steps for setting boundaries—being clear and direct, stating what you need, and accepting any discomfort that may follow—and walks through real-world examples such as saying no, redirecting conversations, asking for time, and stepping away when needed. Emily emphasizes that boundaries can be temporary or permanent, and that sett...

In this episode of The Moos Room, Brad dives into a landmark new study examining the effects of short- and long-distance transport on the health, survival, and growth of pre-weaned dairy and dairy–beef crossbred calves. Drawing on data from nearly 392,000 calves across multiple farms and transport durations (ranging from 30 minutes to 24 hours), the study challenges common assumptions about calf transport. Surprisingly, mortality upon arrival was extremely low and unaffected by transport length. Differences in mortality by weaning (60 days) were also modest and, importantly, were driven far more by early-life factors than by time spent on the truck.

...

In this episode, Brad and Emily welcome a special guest: Dr. Angie Varnum, the University of Minnesota Extension’s new livestock veterinarian. After some banter about Minnesota winters—and a classic round of The Moos Room’s “super-secret” cattle breed questions—the crew dives into Angie’s unique path to Extension.

Angie shares how she went from growing up in suburban Maple Grove to studying Spanish education, teaching in schools, and eventually being inspired to pursue veterinary medicine. Her training and work took her across the western U.S., where she gained experience in beef and dairy systems before...

In this solo episode of The Moos Room, Brad dives into a deep, honest look at production challenges in the University of Minnesota dairy herd and the nutrition and management factors that may be holding cows back. After noticing low udder fill during classification and reviewing herd data, Brad confirms a troubling trend: cows across all lactations are producing 20–30% less milk than predicted. Early-lactation health issues—ketosis, metritis, and retained placentas—are also more common than they should be, especially in first-lactation animals.

A recent visit from an outside nutrition team helped uncover several key issues contributing to poo...

Brad and Emily reunite on the podcast to dive into an essential—and timely—topic: farmer mental health. With fall wrapping up and winter on the horizon, stressors on the farm shift and often intensify. Emily shares updates on her recent travels and outreach work in farm safety, health, and wellness, highlighting the seasonal rise in mental health–related concerns across rural communities.

Together, Brad and Emily walk through:

Brad recaps a fall road trip with the Minnesota dairy extension team to South Dakota’s rapidly growing I-29 dairy corridor, highlighting what innovative farms are doing to boost efficiency, cow health, and profitability. Along the way, they tour the Bel Brands plant in Brookings, where milk from about 10,000 cows a day is turned into those familiar Babybel snack cheeses, and hear how the plant’s demand for high-protein milk is shaping local production.

On the farm visits, Brad digs into why one 1,700-cow dairy is ripping out a barn full of robots after just a few year...

Brad recaps his trip to dairy farms in the Netherlands and Germany, where robotics, crossbreeding, and creative manure and energy management are everywhere — even on small farms. He visited farms using Lely robots, grass/rye silage-based diets, and small-scale digesters that capture manure methane. Crossbreeding (Holstein × Montbéliarde × Viking Red) is common, driven by goals of longevity, health, and reducing inbreeding.

He also saw some surprising management choices: dry cows fed only straw for 60 days (reportedly reducing metabolic issues) and one advisor recommending farmers don’t clean calf pens to preserve the microbiome — a concept Brad remains skeptical...

In this episode, Brad is back from Europe—jetlagged but full of insights from farms and conferences in Germany and the Netherlands. He dives into one of the biggest topics he heard about abroad and at home: Inbreeding in dairy cattle.

Brad explains how inbreeding occurs, what it costs farmers economically, and how inbreeding levels have climbed across all major dairy breeds—especially Holsteins and Jerseys. Drawing on recent research from Italy and data from the U.S. Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding, he outlines how increasing inbreeding negatively impacts cow survival, fertility, and long-term profitability.

Th...

Brad kicks off a solo episode (recorded before a trip to Germany) and turns the mic to rangeland scientist Anna Clare for a deep dive into “the solar savanna”—treating solar arrays on grasslands as functioning grazing ecosystems. She shares early results from Silicon Ranch’s Cattle Tracker research on integrating cattle (not just sheep) with PV systems. Brad follows with University of Minnesota’s on-farm demos: panel heights that work for cattle, heat-stress reductions, forage performance under panels, and a mobile, battery-equipped shade/solar rig. If you’re curious how and when cattle can safely graze under solar, this one’s p...

Emily is back from medical leave (hooray!) and she and Brad dig into an essential topic for every operation: emergency planning. You can’t predict every detail, but you can make the first decisions easier when seconds count.

What we cover:

In this episode, Brad shares his fall updates from western Minnesota before diving into a detailed discussion on genomic testing in dairy herds. Drawing on his experiences from recent farm visits in South Dakota and ongoing University of Minnesota research projects, he explores how producers are using genomics and whether the investment pays off.

Brad explains that while some herds use genomic testing solely to decide which animals to breed to beef, he believes the technology’s value lies much deeper — in improving herd genetics, managing inbreeding, verifying parentage, and advancing traits like health, fertility, and production comp...

Host Brad Heins welcomes Becca Weir, a Minnesota native and newly appointed assistant professor of agricultural economics at Penn State. Growing up on a dairy farm near Sauk Centre, Rebecca developed a passion for applying economics to dairy management decisions.

In this episode, she shares findings from her University of Minnesota research with Jolene Hadrich, which connected genetic selection (sire Net Merit) with farm-level profitability using data from 2012–2018 Minnesota dairy herds.

Key insights:

In this episode, Brad shares his firsthand experience with virtual fencing on the University of Minnesota’s Morris dairy herd. After a long grazing season, he dives into the reasons he began experimenting with NoFence collars, the training process for heifers, and what he learned about costs, labor savings, and animal behavior.

Brad walks listeners through the setup, the challenges of training, and the variation he saw among animals in how quickly they adapted. He highlights both the advantages—like labor efficiency and flexibility—and the limitations, such as collar costs, GPS accuracy, and the need for carefu...

Today, Brad brings on University of Minnesota Extension colleague Jim Salfer to talk through the state of dairy automation. Robots are still going in across the Upper Midwest, but they’re also coming out—and the “why” depends on farm goals, labor, barn design, and cash flow.

Highlights

This week on The Moos Room, Brad shares updates from the University of Minnesota’s dairy research center, where staff have been on strike and he’s been back in the barn doing chores, milking, feeding, and even pulling calves late at night. With calving season underway, Brad shifts the focus to a new review article on weaning practices in young ruminants, authored by Heather Nave at Purdue University.

The discussion explores the stress calves, lambs, goat kids, and beef calves experience when transitioning from milk to solid feed, and how management decisions—such as weaning age and mi...

In this episode, Brad dives into the growing interest in milk fatty acid profiles and what they can tell us about cow health, nutrition, and management.

Brad explains the three main groups of milk fatty acids—de novo, mixed, and preformed—and how they are shaped by diet, stage of lactation, seasonality, and even genetics. He highlights how monitoring these fatty acid trends through routine milk testing can help farmers fine-tune rations, detect health challenges like subclinical ketosis or mastitis, and make more informed feeding decisions.

Brad also shares findings from two recent University of Minn...

In this Labor Day episode, Brad highlights the history of the holiday in the U.S. and Canada before diving into a brand-new genetic evaluation for Holstein dairy cattle: milking speed. Released in August 2025, this trait provides an objective way to measure how quickly cows milk—expressed in pounds of milk per minute—with the Holstein breed average set at 7 lbs/min.

Brad explains how this evaluation was developed using parlor sensor data (not robot milking systems) from over 165 herds and 43,000 cows, making it more accurate than traditional subjective scoring methods used in other breeds. With heritability at 4...

In this episode of The Moos Room, Brad shares updates from a busy summer and fall kickoff at the Minnesota State Fair, where his kids showed cows and he helped with 4-H dairy programming. After reflecting on the fair, he dives into the latest research and extension projects happening at the University of Minnesota’s West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris.

Brad covers a wide range of studies, including:

In this episode of The Moos Room, Brad shares updates on the University of Minnesota’s ongoing work with bovine leukosis virus (BLV), a retrovirus that weakens the immune system, reduces production, and costs dairy farmers hundreds of dollars per cow each year.

Brad walks through the latest herd testing results, where prevalence has held steady at around 30%, but with new infections continuing to appear—especially in older cows. He digs into the role of biting flies in BLV transmission, highlighting research showing that nearly all previously negative cows became suspect or positive after just one summer on p...

Brad records solo during a busy fair season. But behind the scenes at the research center, a troubling issue emerged this summer: a cluster of abortions isolated to a 50–60 cow organic herd.

After ruling out other groups, Brad suspected moldy feed. Testing revealed high mold counts—especially Fusarium, which produces mycotoxins linked to infertility and abortions. The herd had been eating first-crop hay baled a bit too wet, later found to be heating and moldy.

Aborted fetuses sent to diagnostic labs showed mixed results: one indicated Neospora caninum (a protozoan parasite spread by dogs or coyo...

In this special episode of The Moos Room, Emily and Brad record in person for the first time in ages! While together in Rochester, they dive into their favorite annual topic: sun safety and preventing heat illness in humans.

After a lighthearted reminder that Brad still doesn’t wear sunscreen enough, the duo discusses practical strategies to stay safe in the sun. Topics include:

In this episode, Brad and Emily dive into one of the most pressing summertime challenges in cattle care: heat stress. As county fairs, field days, and Farmfest approach, the co-hosts reflect on their busy schedules and upcoming plans to finally record in person. The main discussion covers how heat affects both calves and adult cattle, including signs of stress, management strategies, and the role of hydration, nutrition, and cleanliness.

They share practical tips for reducing heat stress, such as increasing water availability, feeding at optimal times, cleaning equipment frequently to prevent bacterial growth, and improving ventilation. Emily...

In this episode, Emily and Brad reunite to dive into a hot topic on the beef-on-dairy circuit: Are today’s sky-high calf prices economically sustainable? After crisscrossing the country speaking with farmers and cattle buyers, Brad shares firsthand insights and jaw-dropping market figures — with beef-on-dairy calves selling for up to $1,600.

The duo discusses whether investing in calves at these prices can truly yield profit when factoring in feed, labor, and marketing constraints. Brad reviews recent research from Michigan State University suggesting producers may be overpaying by $40–$75 per head based on expected returns. Despite the volatility, beef-on-dairy is here t...

In this episode, Brad shares insights from recent dairy science meetings and dives deep into total serum protein (TSP) levels in calves—a key indicator of successful colostrum management and passive transfer of immunity. He reviews data from multiple studies, including work by Dave Casper in Illinois and a Midwest study on beef-on-dairy cross calves. The results show improvements in TSP levels over time, but highlight that a significant number of calves—especially male and crossbred calves—still arrive at calf ranches with low TSP and signs of poor health.

Brad also shares findings from University of Min...

Brad flies solo in this episode—literally and figuratively—to tackle a problem buzzing on every farmer’s mind around the 4th of July: flies. With heavy rains in the Upper Midwest fueling major fly outbreaks, Brad dives deep into why managing flies is essential for livestock health, productivity, and human comfort.

He covers the four main types of flies affecting livestock—stable flies, house flies, horn flies, and face flies—including their behaviors, lifecycles, preferred habitats, and the economic losses they cause. From foot-stomping stable flies in confinement to pinkeye-spreading face flies on pasture, Brad emphasizes the import...

In this solo episode, Emily shares timely reminders about biosecurity as county fair and livestock show season ramps up across Minnesota. Drawing on her own experience showing dairy cattle in 4-H, she discusses the importance of protecting animals from disease before, during, and after exhibitions. Topics include bringing only healthy animals to shows, cleaning equipment beforehand, being mindful of potential disease exposure at the fairgrounds, and the value of quarantining animals upon return. Emily also gives a quick update on current H5 (avian influenza) testing requirements in Minnesota and encourages listeners to prioritize safety for the sake of their...

🎉 Episode 300: Celebrating Five Years of The Moos Room 🎉

In this milestone episode, Emily and Brad reflect on five years and 300 episodes of The Moos Room, a podcast that began as a small idea in late 2019 and launched in April 2020. Born in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the show quickly became a weekly staple—covering everything from beef and dairy production to farm safety and mental health.

The hosts celebrate:

In Episode 299 of The Moos Room, Emily returns to the mic, reminding Brad—and the audience—that The Moos Room is a team effort, not just "The Bradley Show." The two catch up and share updates on their chaotic summer schedules in the world of Extension before diving into the topic of the week: pasture management in mid-June.

Brad gives a detailed look at what’s happening in Morris, where heavy rainfall (over five inches in the past month) has led to explosive pasture growth. With 315 cows now grazing—including the conventional herd—he’s doing everything he can to ke...

In this solo episode, Brad dives into the challenges of managing mastitis, especially during wet spring and summer conditions. He shares findings from ongoing University of Minnesota research on non-antibiotic treatments for mastitis, highlighting two promising alternatives: Ozolea-Mast, a corn oil-based intramammary product, and Optimum UterFlush, a botanical-based treatment studied in Colorado.

Brad discusses how these non-antibiotic tools have performed both in lactating cows with subclinical mastitis and as dry cow therapy. Notable results include a consistent ~30% reduction in somatic cell count in chronic cows and the potential economic benefits of avoiding milk and meat withdrawal. While...