Recently, there has been an interest in shortening the non-income-producing dry period (DP). Retrospective analysis of farm data and planned experiments both indicate about a 5 to 6% loss in milk yield during the subsequent lactation when the DP is reduced by approximately 30 d (Rastani et al., 2005). Additional milk produced during the extra 30 d of lactation can compensate for some of the loss in the subsequent lactation. There are, however, some advantages to reducing the dry period length, including increased income from milk in the current lactation, simplified management of dry cows through movement toward a one-group nutritional strategy, decreased metabolic disorders, and reduced strain on dry cow facilities. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of dry period length on milk production and composition in early lactating Holstein cows

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