Invited review: The impact of wildfires, air pollution, and air quality on the health and production of dairy cattle. By Pace et al., page 878. More than 40% of dairy cows reside in wildfire-prone states. Inhalation of smoke produced by wildfires is associated with a multitude of health effects in humans, yet only recently has this been studied in cattle. Evidence suggests that poor air quality from wildfire smoke negatively affects dairy and beef cattle production. This may be driven by immune and metabolic responses, as well as diminished health emanating from inhalation of toxic pollutants.

This article contained an error regarding the SNP chip genotype data and phenotypes in the Notes section. The correction is marked in boldface below.

The link to the ShadeMap application incorrectly contained a “www” prefix. The correct URL appears in boldface below.

Historically, the Journal of Dairy Science has not outlined specific requirements for the disclosure of related or overlapping publications; however, the guidelines of our publisher (Elsevier, 2025) state that multiple publications containing “slices” of a broken-up study, often referred to as “salami publication,” is not an acceptable practice when they share the same hypotheses, population, and methods (Elsevier, 2019). Among the reasons for this is that readers may be led to believe that data presented in each article originated from a different sample.

Measurement of antimicrobial usage (AMU) on dairy farms is an important aspect of antimicrobial stewardship and has been performed using a variety of methods. The objectives of this observational study were to compare AMU estimated using data extracted from computerized herd records with estimates based on drug packaging inventories and to assess consistency in AMU during different periods. Data were collected between May 2023 and January 2024 from a convenience sample of 25 conventional dairy farms that recorded treatments in selected herd management software.

Although Lys has been widely used in dairy cows, its effects on lactational performance are inconsistent, and the potential interfering factors have not been systematically investigated. Thirty-three reviewed publications from PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases up to March 31, 2025, were pooled to calculate the weighted mean differences (WMD) and CI for continuous variables using a stratified 3-level meta-analysis with a random-effects model. A moderator analysis was used to evaluate the influences of cow breed, lactational stage, dietary MP supply, basal diet type, and other additions, as well as methods, dosage, and duration of administration, on the effects of supplemental Lys.

Doum fruit, which contains valuable nutritional components and biologically active substances while being readily available, low-cost, and offering numerous health benefits, may present an innovative approach to yogurt fortification. The present study evaluated the physicochemical properties, microbiological counts, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, and sensory properties of set-type yogurt fortified with aqueous extract of doum fruit.

Constipation has emerged as an important public health concern, and novel therapeutic approaches, such as those, are attracting increasing attention. However, the effects and mechanisms of Bifidobacterium breve (B. breve) and Lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT) in relieving constipation remain incompletely understood. Moreover, the potential synergistic effects of B. breve and LNnT in alleviating constipation are still unclear. In this study, we used 4-wk-old female BALB/c mice (n = 60), which were randomly assigned to normal control (NC) group, model control (MC) group, LNnT group, B.

Transportation is a significant stressor for cattle, but research is lacking regarding preweaning dairy calf transport practices in the United States. Improving our understanding of calf transportation practices can inform management practices that minimize welfare challenges of transport. The objectives of this study were to (1) describe current industry practices regarding transportation of preweaning dairy and beef-on-dairy crossbred calves, (2) determine differences in pre-transport management on dairies between replacement heifers, beef-on-dairy crossbreds, and dairy bull calves, and (3) identify outreach and research needs to address calf welfare concerns related to transportation.

Fermented dairy products are increasingly valued not only for their nutritional content but also for their potential health-promoting properties. However, assessing these functional benefits often requires time-consuming chemical assays that limit scalability. In this study, we investigated whether deep learning (DL) could offer a faster, more efficient alternative. Using liquid chromatography (LC)-MS quadrupole time-of-flight metabolomics, we analyzed 18 fermented milk samples (derived from camel and bovine milk fermented with different bacterial strains) and measured their bioactivity across 9 in vitro assays, including antioxidant capacity (2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), enzyme inhibition (angiotensin-converting enzyme, DH), and anticancer activity (HT-29, MDAMB).

India is home to more than 525 million ruminants, which are major contributors to global warming via enteric methane (EntCH4) emissions. Various mitigation strategies exist to reduce EntCH4 emissions but accurate emission estimates are needed to establish the true potential of these strategies. Measuring EntCH4 emissions is expensive and unrealistic at such a large scale, so an urgent need exists for accurate EntCH4 prediction models. The present study evaluated the accuracy of various existing models and developed a new model to predict EntCH4 emissions from cattle in India.

The study aimed to develop and characterize composite hydrogels composed of polymerized whey protein (PWP, 10% wt/vol) and Grifola frondosa polysaccharide (GFP, 0%–4% wt/vol) as a natural functional additive for yogurt. The hydrogel structure change was elucidated at the molecular level using simultaneous rheology and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Results indicated that GFP significantly enhanced the hydrogel's network density and thermal stability through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions, as evidenced by increased particle size, zeta potential, and endothermic peak temperature.

In this study, a novel composite probiotic fermented milk was developed using Lactiplantibacillus plantarum P-8 and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei ProSci-92 strains with promising probiotic properties. Different proportions of the 2 strains were evaluated to identify the optimal coculture ratio. The physicochemical properties, storage stability, viable bacterial counts, and metabolomic profiles of the coculture fermented milk, single-strain fermented milk samples, and a commercial fermented milk (PYS-010) were compared.

Automated milking systems (AMS) enable the generation of objective measurements of teat placement, a key factor influencing milking efficiency and udder health. In this context, we performed GWAS to investigate the genetic background of 2 teat placement traits, i.e., rear teat distance (RTD) and front teat distance (FTD), derived from Cartesian coordinates recorded by AMS in American Holstein cows. Phenotypic data were collected from 36 AMS robots, resulting in 4,232,026 records from 4,118 cows genotyped for 57,598 SNPs.

Sensory quality plays a key role in consumer acceptance and can contribute to the growing market share of private-label dairy products. In this study, the sensory quality of private-label dairy products in Slovenia was investigated over a 4-year period (2020–2023). A total of 2,188 samples from 5 major Slovenian retailers were analyzed using a modified sensory evaluation method (ISO 22935). Each retailer conducted about 4 samplings per year. The products were categorized into 11 groups and evaluated by trained panelists according to appearance, color, odor, taste, and product-specific characteristics.

This study evaluated the fermentative performance of several yeast strains on the aqueous by-product of waste ice cream (WIC) to ethanol, comparing 3 reported lactose-utilizers, Kluyveromyces marxianus Y-329, Dekkera anomala Y-1414, and Kluyveromyces lactis 8585, with the non-lactose utilizer Streptomyces cerevisiae Y-45. Fermentation progression was monitored by weight loss, and HPLC was used to analyze the composition of the fermentates. Ethanol production reached >10% for S. cerevisiae and K.

This study evaluated the effects of feeding a probiotic-postbiotic blend on transcript abundance in circulating neutrophils following an intramammary (IMM) LPS challenge in lactating dairy cattle. Lactating Holstein cows (n = 16 at 57 ± 4 DIM) with a SCC <250,000 cells/mL received either 28 g/d of probiotic-postbiotic (PB; n = 8, Dairyman's Edge PRO, Papillon Agricultural Company) or no PB (NP; n = 8) for 27 d before intramammary infusion of 200 µg Escherichia coli O111:B4 LPS into both rear quarters.

Goat milk production has increased notably in recent years. Because a large portion of this production is used for cheese manufacturing, the study of goat milk technological traits becomes particularly important. Traditionally, milk technological traits are measured using reference analytical techniques, which limit large-scale data collection due to their high costs, technical demands, and time requirements. This study aimed to evaluate mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS) as a rapid and cost-effective alternative for predicting technological traits of individual milk from Saanen and Alpine goat breeds.