Dairy beef production

The Peterson family has farmed in Grantsburg, Wisconsin, since the land was homesteaded nearly 150 years ago.  The family and farm team are proud of the farm’s rich legacy and its role in the community, and they’re focused on innovation to support the farm’s future.

Dr. Trey Gellert | One-day-old dairy beef calves need to be set up for long-term success. Starting these calves with the end goal in mind will lead to mutually beneficial relationship for the producer and calf. In this second article of a two-part series on vaccinations, we discuss dairy beef respiratory vaccine protocols.

By Dr. Trey Gellert, Four Star Veterinary Service, LLC It is critically important to vaccinate dairy beef calves because these calves may be co-mingled or stressed, or have unknown colostrum intake, colostrum quality, or dairy farm disease pressure. These make the dairy beef calf unique and different compared to typical cow/calf and dairy youngstock.

It has been a tough year for many farmers in the Upper Midwest. We have seen areas of extreme drought (especially here in Minnesota), severe weather that has damaged crops and other crop health issues. As a result, our markets are still going through their ups and downs.

By Chad Howlett, Vita Plus beef program manager
The Holstein steer feed and marketing world has experienced quite a bit of angst in the past couple months.  Basis on cash Holstein steers at the auction houses has widened to as much as -$45 per hundredweight (cwt) under colored cattle.  Typically, basis runs -$5 to -$7 under beef breed animals.  When you factor in the difference, you could be taking a hit of about $550 per head.

By PJ Neff, Vita Plus dairy specialist, and Chance Meteer, Vita Plus beef specialist
So far in 2016, the cattle market has seen an abundance of ups and downs. As expected, prices for both feeder cattle and finished cattle have been extremely volatile.  However, on the calf side, Holstein bull calf markets have continued to steadily decline over the last few months, which has prompted many calf raisers to fill up or remain at full capacity.