It has long been known that season of the year has major impacts on dairy animal performance measures including growth, reproduction, and lactation. Additionally, as average production per cow has doubled, the metabolic heat output per animal has increased substantially rendering animals more susceptible to heat stress. This, in turn, has altered cooling and housing requirements for cattle. Substantial progress has been made in the last quarter-century in delineating the mechanisms by which thermal stress and photoperiod influence performance of dairy animals. Acclimation to thermal stress is now identified as a homeorhetic process under endocrine control. The process of acclimation occurs in 2 phases (acute and chronic) and involves changes in secretion rate of hormones as well as receptor populations in target tissues. The time required to complete both phases is weeks rather than days. The opportunity may exist to modify endocrine status of animals and improve their resistance to heat and cold stress. New estimates of genotype x environment interactions support use of recently available molecular and genomics tools to identify the genetic basis of heat-stress sensitivity and tolerance. Improved understanding of environmental effects on nutrient requirements has resulted in diets for dairy animals during different weather conditions. Demonstration that estrus behavior is adversely affected by heat stress has led to increased use of timed insemination schemes during the warm summer months to improve conception rates by discarding the need to detect estrus. Studies evaluating the effects of heat stress on embryonic survival support use of cooling during the immediate postbreeding period and use of embryo transfer to improve pregnancy rates. Successful cooling strategies for lactating dairy cows are based on maximizing available routes of heat exchange, convection, conduction, radiation, and evaporation. Areas in dairy operations in which cooling systems have been used to enhance cow comfort, improve milk production, reproductive efficiency, and profit include both housing and milking facilities. Currently, air movement (fans), wetting (soaking) the cow's body surface, high pressure mist (evaporation) to cool the air in the cows' environment, and facilities designed to minimize the transfer of solar radiation are used for heat abatement. Finally, improved understanding of photoperiod effects on cattle has allowed producers to maximize beneficial effects of photoperiod length while minimizing negative effects.

Heat stress during the dry period negatively affects hepatic metabolism and cellular immune function during the transition period, and milk production in the subsequent lactation. However, the cellular mechanisms involved in the depressed mammary gland function remain unknown. The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of heat stress during the dry period on various indices of mammary gland development of multiparous cows. Cows were dried off approximately 46 d before expected calving and randomly assigned to 2 treatments, heat stress (HT, n=15) or cooling (CL, n=14), based on mature equivalent milk production. Cows in the CL treatment were provided with sprinklers and fans that came on when ambient temperatures reached 21.1°C, whereas HT cows were housed in the same barn without fans and sprinklers. After parturition, all cows were housed in a freestall barn with cooling. Rectal temperatures were measured twice daily (0730 and 1430 h) and respiration rates recorded at 1500 h on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule from dry off to calving. Milk yield and composition were recorded daily up to 280 d in milk. Daily dry matter intake was measured from dry off to 42 d relative to calving. Mammary biopsies were collected at dry off, -20, 2, and 20 d relative to calving from a subset of cows (HT, n=7; CL, n=7). Labeling with Ki67 antigen and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling were used to evaluate mammary cell proliferation and apoptosis, respectively. The average temperature-humidity index during the dry period was 76.6 and not different between treatments. Heat-stressed cows had higher rectal temperatures in the morning (38.8 vs. 38.6°C) and afternoon (39.4 vs. 39.0°C), greater respiration rates (78.4 vs. 45.6 breath/min), and decreased dry matter intake (8.9 vs. 10.6 kg/d) when dry compared with CL cows. Relative to HT cows, CL cows had greater milk production (28.9 vs. 33.9 kg/d), lower milk protein concentration (3.01 vs. 2.87%), and tended to have lower somatic cell score (3.35 vs. 2.94) through 280 d in milk. Heat stress during the dry period decreased mammary cell proliferation rate (1.0 vs. 3.3%) at -20 d relative to calving compared with CL cows. Mammary cell apoptosis was not affected by prepartum heat stress. We conclude that heat stress during the dry period compromises mammary gland development before parturition, which decreases milk yield in the next lactation.

Heat stress during the dry period affects the cow's mammary gland development, metabolism, and immunity during the transition period. However, the effect of late-gestation heat stress on calf performance and immune status is unknown. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of heat stress during the final ~45 d of gestation on growth and immune function of calves. Calves (17/treatment) were born to cows that were exposed to cooling (CL) or heat stress (HT) during the dry period. Only heifer calves (CL, n=12; HT, n=9) were used in measurements of growth and immune status after birth. Heifer calves were managed under identical conditions. All were fed 3.78 L of colostrum from their respective dams within 4 h of birth and were weaned at 2 mo of age (MOA). Body weight (BW) was obtained at weaning and then monthly until 7 MOA. Withers height (WH) was measured monthly from 3 to 7 MOA. Hematocrit and plasma total protein were assessed at birth, 1, 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, and 28 d of age. Total serum IgG was evaluated at 1, 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, and 28 d of age, and apparent efficiency of absorption was calculated. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated at 7, 28, 42, and 56 d of age, and proliferation rate was measured by (3)H-thymidine incorporation in vitro. Blood cortisol concentration was measured in the dams during the dry period and in calves in the preweaning period. Gestation length was 4d shorter for HT cows compared with CL cows. Calves from CL cows had greater BW than calves from HT cows at birth (42.5 vs. 36.5 kg). Compared with CL heifers, HT heifers had decreased weaning BW (78.5 vs. 65.9 kg) but similar BW (154.6 vs. 146.4 kg) and WH (104.8 vs. 103.4 cm) from 3 to 7 MOA. Compared with CL, heifers from HT cows had less total plasma protein (6.3 vs. 5.9 g/dL), total serum IgG (1,577.3 vs. 1,057.8 mg/dL), and apparent efficiency of absorption (33.6 vs. 19.2%), and tended to have decreased hematocrit (33 vs. 30%). Additionally, CL heifers had greater peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation relative to HT heifers (23.8 vs. 14.1 fold). Compared with CL, late-gestation HT did not affect the blood cortisol concentration of dams during the dry period or that of the calves in the preweaning period, but CL calves tended to have increased circulating cortisol at birth (7.6 vs. 5.7 µg/dL). We conclude that heat stress of the dam during the dry period compromises the fetal growth and immune function of offspring from birth through weaning.

Previous research has demonstrated that increasing the CP concentration from 16 to 26% in milk replacers fed to male preruminant dairy calves at 1.5% of BW (DM basis) daily resulted in increased ADG, G:F, and deposition of lean tissue. However, the effects of dietary CP would be expected to vary depending on ME intake. Here, male Holstein calves < 1 wk old were used to determine the effects of feeding rate and CP concentration of isocaloric, whey protein-based milk replacers on growth and body composition. After a 2-wk standardization period, calves were assigned randomly to an initial baseline group or to treatments in a 2 x 4 factorial arrangement of feeding rate (1.25 or 1.75% of BW daily, DM basis) and milk replacer CP concentration (14, 18, 22, or 26% of DM). No starter was offered, but calves had free access to water. After a 5-wk feeding period, calves were slaughtered and body composition was determined. Increasing the feeding rate increased (P < 0.05) ADG, G:F, empty-body gains of chemical components and energy, the percentage of fat in empty BW gain and in the final empty body, and concentrations of IGF-I and insulin in plasma. Increasing the feeding rate decreased (P < 0.01) percentages of water and protein in the empty body and decreased urea N in plasma. Increasing dietary CP concentration linearly increased (P < 0.05) ADG, body length, heart girth, and gains of water and protein but linearly decreased (P < 0.05) fat gain. As dietary CP increased, fat content in empty body gain decreased, and water and protein increased. Increasing CP concentration increased (quadratic, P < 0.02) G:F, with greatest efficiencies for calves fed 22% CP. Gross energetic efficiency (retained energy:intake energy) was greater (P < 0.05) for calves fed at 1.75% of BW daily. Efficiency of dietary protein use for protein gain was greater for calves fed at 1.75% of BW daily but was not affected by dietary CP. The ratio of protein gain to apparently digestible protein intake above maintenance decreased as dietary CP increased. Interactions (P < 0.05) of feeding rate and CP concentration for gains of water and protein indicated that when dietary CP was 26% the ME supply limited protein use by calves fed at 1.25% of BW daily. Body composition of preruminant calves can be markedly altered by manipulating the protein to energy ratio in milk replacers. These dietary effects on body composition and growth are not predicted by current NRC standards.

In dairy cattle, late gestation is a critical period for fetal growth and physiological transition into the next lactation. Environmental factors, such as temperature and light, exert dramatic effects on the production, health, and well-being of animals during this period and after parturition. The aim of this review was to introduce effects of heat stress during late gestation on dairy cattle, and discuss the biological mechanisms that underlie the observed production and health responses in the dam and her fetus. Relative to cooled cows, cows that are heat stressed during late gestation have impaired mammary growth before parturition and decreased milk production in the subsequent lactation. In response to higher milk yield, cows cooled prepartum undergo a series of homeorhetic adaptations in early lactation to meet higher demand for milk synthesis compared with heat-stressed cows, but no direct effect of environmental heat stress on metabolism exists during the dry period. Prepartum cooling improves immune status of transition cows and evidence suggests that altered prolactin signaling in immune cells mediates the effects of heat stress on immune function. Late-gestation heat stress compromises placental development, which results in fetal hypoxia, malnutrition, and eventually fetal growth retardation. Maternal heat stress may also have carryover effects on the postnatal growth of offspring, but direct evidence is still lacking. Emerging evidence suggests that offspring from prepartum heat-stressed cows have compromised passive immunity and impaired cell-mediated immune function compared with those from cooled cows.

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Calves born to cows exposed to heat stress during late gestation (i.e., the dry period) have lower birth weight and weaning weight and compromised passive immune transfer compared with those born to dams that are cooled. However, it is unknown if heat stress in utero has carryover effects after weaning. The objective was to evaluate the effect of heat stress (HT) or cooling (CL) in late gestation dairy cows on the survival, growth, fertility, and milk production in the first lactation of their calves. Data of animals obtained from previous experiments conducted during 5 consecutive summers in Florida were pooled and analyzed. Cows were dried off 46d before expected calving and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments, HT or CL. Cooled cows were housed with sprinklers, fans, and shade, whereas only shade was provided to HT cows. Within 4h of birth, 3.8 L of colostrum was fed to calves from both groups of cows. All calves were managed in the same manner and weaned at 49d of age. Birth weight and survival of 146 calves (HT=74; CL=72) were analyzed. Additionally, body weight, growth rate, fertility, and milk production in the first lactation from 72 heifers (HT=34; CL=38) were analyzed. As expected, HT calves were lighter (means ± SEM; 39.1±0.7 vs. 44.8±0.7kg) at birth than CL calves. Cooled heifers were heavier up to 1yr of age, but had similar total weight gain (means ± SEM; 305.8±6.3 vs. 299.1±6.3kg, respectively) compared with HT heifers. No effect of treatment was observed on age at first insemination (AI) and age at first parturition. Compared with CL heifers, HT heifers had a greater number of services per pregnancy confirmed at d 30 after AI, but no treatment effect was observed on number of services per pregnancy confirmed at d 50 after AI. A greater percentage of CL heifers reached first lactation compared with HT heifers (85.4 vs. 65.9%). Moreover, HT heifers produced less milk up to 35wk of the first lactation compared with CL heifers (means ± SEM; 26.8±1.7 vs. 31.9±1.7kg/d), and no difference in body weight during lactation was observed (means ± SEM; HT: 568.4±14.3kg; CL: 566.5±14.3kg). These data suggest that heat stress during the last 6wk of gestation induces a phenotype that negatively affects survival and milk production up to and through the first lactation of offspring.

Dairy producers should harvest colostrum as soon as possible after calving to optimize transfer of passive immunity in neonatal calves. Photoperiod can be manipulated without adversely affecting colostral IgG concentration.