Ruminate This | Agrarian Solutions

First-lactation cows are some of the most genetically valuable animals in the dairy herd but the transition into their first lactation can have lasting effects on health, reproduction and future performance. Originally released on The Dairy Podcast Show , this episode features Dr. Larry Roth of Agrarian Solutions and Dr. Liz Eckelkamp discussing the unique challenges first-lactation cows face at c...

A dairy producer asked a simple question: "Every time I feed a clay binder, my cows' manure firms up. If it isn't binding the mycotoxins, why does that happen?" In this Letters from the Field episode, Scott Zehr and Dr. Larry Roth explore the science behind clay-based mycotoxin binders, manure consistency, gut health, and nutrient bioavailability. They explain why firmer manure...

When dairy producers think about improving profitability, they often focus on the cow. But what if the biggest opportunity starts much earlier? We're excited to share this episode of The Dairy Podcast Show , where host Dr. Barry Bradford sits down with John Lawlor , dairy industry consultant, to discuss why forage quality, feed management, and system-wide thinking have a greater impact on pro...

Corn silage harvest is about more than filling the bunker. It is one of the biggest opportunities to protect profitability on the dairy and set the herd up for success over the coming year. In this episode of Ruminate This, Dr. Larry Roth, Vice President of Nutrition at Agrarian Solutions, explains why corn silage should be managed like one of the farm's most valuable assets. He discusses how...

A simple question from a nutritionist sparked one of the most thought-provoking conversations we've had on Ruminate This . If DON mycotoxins interfere with protein synthesis, how much milk protein could dairy cows be losing before clinical signs ever appear? In this Letters from the Field episode, Dr. Larry Roth explores the hidden cost of nutrient chaos. How mycotoxins can redirect nutrients...

How much are mycotoxins costing your dairy operation? Our own Dr. Larry Roth, Vice President of Nutrition at Agrarian Solutions and frequent guest of the Ruminate This podcast recently presented at the Wisenetix Dairy Feed Additive Summit. In the webinar, Dr. Larry Roth and host Dr. Todd Callaway discuss how the impact of mycotoxins extends far beyond feed quality concerns. From gut integrity and...

After reading yet another tragic story in agriculture, Ruminate This host Scott Zehr found himself wrestling with a question he couldn't shake: Is burnout really caused by long hours, labor shortages, milk prices, and financial pressure, or is it something deeper? In this solo episode, Scott explores burnout, resilience, leadership, and the weight many dairy producers carry every day. It&apos...

Summer heat stress in dairy cattle is about far more than fans and sprinklers. In this episode of Ruminate This , Scott Zehr and Dr. Larry Roth discuss the hidden biological effects of heat stress in dairy cows, including inflammation, leaky gut, oxidative stress, altered blood flow, and immune disruption. They also explain why heat stress should be viewed as an inflammation challenge rather than...

In this episode of The Dairy Podcast Show, Dr. Larry Roth, Vice President of Nutrition at Agrarian Solutions, explains how mycotoxins affect dairy cow health, performance, and nutrient use. He outlines risk factors, testing strategies, and emerging technologies like IgY and probiotics to defend gut integrity and liver function. Get practical insights that help manage contaminated feeds and improve...

Most dairy conversations treat heat stress in dairy cows as the primary problem. But what if it is not the root cause. What if it is the multiplier? In episode 72 of Ruminate This, Scott and Dr. Larry Roth explore a different way to think about dairy heat stress. Not as an isolated challenge, but as something that amplifies underlying issues like mycotoxins, reduced dry matter intake, and marginal...

In this episode of Ruminate This with Agrarian Solutions, host Scott Zehr continues the conversation with Joe Lawrence of Cornell Pro-Dairy, shifting from forage strategy to what matters most right now: return on investment. With milk prices under pressure and input costs still elevated, the margin for error is slim. This episode explores the real economics behind forage decisions—and how small mi...

In this episode of Ruminate This with Agrarian Solutions, host Scott Zehr sits down with Joe Lawrence of Cornell Pro-Dairy to discuss one of the most critical and often underestimated drivers of dairy profitability: forage quality. As first cutting approaches, this conversation focuses on the real-world decisions dairy producers are making right now that will impact milk production, feed efficienc...

Dairy cow reproduction has improved significantly over the past decade, but virgin heifer reproduction has remained relatively flat. Why? In this episode of Ruminate This, Scott Zehr explores whether mycotoxins in virgin heifer TMRs could be quietly influencing heifer conception rates and dairy fertility. While dairies have made major advances in reproductive protocols, genetics, and technology, h...

Multiple mycotoxins in the TMR do not just add up. They multiply damage in dairy cows. In this episode of Ruminate This, Scott Zehr and Vice President of Nutrition Dr. Larry Roth connect their previous episode discussions and explain why multiple mycotoxins in the TMR create a multiplying negative effect in dairy cows rather than a simple additive one. They discuss how common toxins such as DON, f...

T-2 mycotoxin, often called the assassin toxin, is one of the most aggressive and overlooked feed risks in dairy production. In this episode of Ruminate This, Dr. Larry Roth explains how T-2 disrupts protein synthesis, damages the rumen and intestines, and creates serious health challenges at levels as low as 75 ppb. They connect T-2 exposure to Hemorrhagic Bowel Syndrome (HBS), gut integrity brea...

Fumonisin is one of the most overlooked mycotoxins in dairy production, and its impact goes beyond immune suppression. In this episode, Dr. Larry Roth explains how fumonisin disrupts cell-to-cell communication in the gut (often called quorum sensing), which plays a critical role in gut integrity, immune function, liver health, and respiratory resilience. Learn why this mycotoxin is increasingly mo...

Zeralanone is often labeled a reproductive mycotoxin, but that barely scratches the surface. This reproductive mycotoxin, is an estrogen imposter that disrupts fertility, immunity, liver function, and overall metabolic stability. In this episode, Dr. Larry Roth explains why zearalenone is fat-soluble, how it can be stored and released during post-calving fat mobilization, and why its metabolites m...

In this episode of Ruminate This, Scott Zehr is joined by Dr. Larry Roth (VP of Nutrition, Agrarian Solutions) for a discussion about DON (deoxynivalenol/vomitoxin)—one of the most common and most misunderstood mycotoxins in dairy rations. Rather than causing an obvious crash every time, DON often works like a “pause button” on rumen microbes. It doesn’t necessarily kill bacteria, it slows microbi...

This is the final episode of the year for Ruminate This , and we’re closing it out with a “best of” reflection on five episodes that continue to matter on dairy farms today. In this year-end episode, Scott Zehr revisits some of the most impactful conversations on dairy nutrition, calf health, transition cow management, gut health, and mycotoxin control, and explains why these topics continue to in...

Everyone talks about “culture” on dairies, but for calves, culture quietly determines which calves grow into healthy, high-performing cows and which struggle. In this episode, Scott explores how Agrarian Solutions’ RISE core values, Relational, Integrity, Strategic, and Excellence, shape real-world calf management, not just posters in the office. Through examples from three dairy farms, Scott demo...

What do you do when the cows look perfectly fine but performance keeps drifting? In this episode of Ruminate This , Scott Zehr breaks down the quiet, hard-to-detect issue plaguing many dairy herds: subtle biological stress, especially from low-level mycotoxins that rarely show up on a single feed test but can dramatically impact herd performance. Scott explains how cows can look visually healthy w...

Mycotoxins like DON, zearalenone, and fumonisin silently drain herd health and profits, but too often, testing only happens after the damage is done. In this episode of Ruminate This , Scott Zehr and Dr. Larry Roth discuss why routine, proactive mycotoxin testing of TMR and silage should be a standard practice on every dairy. They explor regional mycotoxin trends, the influence of agronomic practi...

Most people see “calcium carbonate” on a label and assume it’s all the same, cheap limestone that barely gets absorbed. However, now we know: Not all calcium carbonate is created equal. In this episode of Ruminate This , Scott Zehr sits down with Dr. Larry Roth to answer the questions producers and vets are really asking: What’s the difference between Calcium Carbonate and Calcium Chloride? Why Is...

What if the biggest hidden cost on your dairy isn’t feed, labor, or genetics, but the pain of not changing? In this episode of Ruminate This , Scott Zehr and co-host Jeff Hostetter, Product Manager at Premier Select Sires, explore the challenges and opportunities facing today’s dairy producers. Change in dairy management can feel disruptive with new training, updated protocols, and added investmen...

Most dairies focus on calcium deficiency during the transition period, but what if that’s just a symptom, not the root cause? In this episode of Ruminate This , Mark Carpenter, CEO of Agrarian Solutions, shares why the real enemy is inflammation and how the company made the bold move to walk away from its popular calcium bolus in favor of a more complete, integrity-driven solution. Grounded in Dr....