Animal Nutrition

True Nutrition: The Benitz Dairy Story

True Nutrition The Benitz Dairy Story mtime20180424072329

The Benitz family always strives to improve. That’s why they introduced DCAD to their western Wisconsin dairy. “I knew the potential of our herd, but we weren’t going to get there without doing more for our transition cows,” said co-owner Tim Benitz.

But when they tried an extreme approach to the nutritional practice, problems arose. “Being overly aggressive wasn’t working. We were suddenly seeing lots of sick cows,” said nutritionist Gary Drinkman. Over-supplementation with anions led to over-acidification and unexplainable problems. Tim Benitz and his father, Jim, considered cutting out anionic supplementation altogether and returning to a non-acidifying diet. But they still wanted better for their herd, and DCAD done right was the key to improving their cows’ transition into lactation. 

So they tried a more moderate approach to DCAD with SoyChlor. "DCAD finally became fun," said Jim.

Now they keep their cows moderately acidified with pH levels just under 7, and they monitor pH less often than their previous program required. Freshening issues have disappeared, and cows are taking off better at calving. 

DCAD with SoyChlor isn’t extra management. It’s less time treating problems, it just works.

Tim Benitz