Starting Strong – Calf Care

By Terry Seubert, Vita Plus IT services development coordinator

Question:  What factors should I consider when picking out my next mobile phone?

Answer:  Picking a mobile phone can be nerve-racking, especially with so many different factors to consider.  Remember, good or bad, mobile phones have become part of our busy, everyday lives.  They provide a way to stay in touch with family, friends, and work, while also functioning as a camera, social networking device, music player, GPS system, and a constant connection to the Internet.  Here are a few things to consider when picking your new mobile phone.

Question:  How many air exchanges are needed for summer barn ventilation?

Quck answer:  40 to 60 exchanges per hour

A little more on that...

In this video, Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator, discusses many of the facility considerations needed to successfully feed transition calves. These animals may already be stressed due to weaning, pen moves and grouping. Make it easy for transition calves to find their feed and water and help adjust to their new environments quickly.  Click here to watch part 1 of this series, which addresses feeding considerations for preweaned calves.

By Jon Rasmussen, Vita Plus technology specialist
A simple way to improve your heifer growth efficiency, as well as minimize the costs of your heifer diets, is to evaluate your TMR mixer. This starts with physically inspecting the TMR mixer for proper weighing and mixing.

By Peter Coyne, Vita Plus sales manager and dairy field service specialist
Our high school football team had a very successful season last year and only lost one game.

Unfortunately, it was the biggest game of the year; the winner goes to state and the loser goes home. We lost by one point.

Eleven seniors were on that team and I suspect we will need to do some rebuilding this year. Fortunately, we have a great coach who understands kids as well as he understands football. As he and his assistant coaches work with our young, inexperienced team of kids from our community, they will do the same things I see the best dairy managers do on their productions on a daily basis.

This tip comes to use from Buddenberg Farms in Iowa.  Use a small piece of 9-guage wire to make a gallon jug hanger for your soap bottle.

Consumer concern about antibiotic resistance has pushed major food processors, distributors and retailers to restrict or eliminate antibiotic use in the production of their foods.  That same pressure has pushed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take a new approach in regulating the use of antibiotics in livestock feed.

By Progressive Dairyman Editor Peggy Coffeen
In the past few decades, North Florida Holsteins has figured out how to achieve more than 90 pounds of milk per day in an environment where extreme heat stress is the norm.

By Progressive Dairyman Editor Peggy Coffeen
“Labor management, procuring employees … if it is not your biggest issue today, it will become one of your biggest issues,” Peter Coyne, Vita Plus dairy field service specialist, warned dairy producers at the Vita Plus Calf Summit.

Coyne moderated a panel of three Wisconsin dairy producers who shared how they creatively and successfully recruit, manage and retain a solid team of farm employees. The panel included Laura Finger, Finger Family Farm LLC; Theo Scholze, Scholze’s Family Farm LLC; and Sherry Arnold, Busse’s Barron Acres.

For most farms, keeping every replacement heifer probably doesn’t make the most sense.  However, deciding which and how many heifers to sell is different for every farm and depends on the goals you have for your operation.  During a panel discussion at Vita Plus Calf Summit, three producers shared their strategies for the heifer program.

When the summer heat rises, the best strategy on dairy farms is simple:  Keep everyone cool.

Dr. Sha Tao, assistant professor at the University of Georgia at Tipton, has taken in-depth looks at heat stress effects from a variety of angles, starting with his research at the University of Florida.

Just as you need a solid foundation with a good blue print to build a house, you need a sound starter program to successfully raise calves. A good starter program will not only give your calves the best start to production, but will also reflect well on you as a producer.

By Progressive Dairyman Editor Peggy Coffeen
When it comes to raising heifers, cutting costs is challenging because 60 percent of the total expense is feed. While feed costs are quite volatile, costs can be controlled at a few places in heifer rearing.

When planning facilities for calves and heifers, dairy producers must piece together their management style with production goals, such as expanding versus maintaining herd size, or using automated versus manual labor.

“It’s a big puzzle,” Dr. Joseph Harner, livestock housing and facilities expert at Kansas State University, said. “Long term, think about the impact of where you want to be.”

Raising replacement heifers is an expensive but vital component of any dairy farm’s success. 

Dr. Greg Bethard, chief financial officer for Pagel Family Businesses, uses a strategic approach in assessing the efficiency of raising heifers on two large dairy farms.

We tend to see greater emphasis put on calf and cow nutrition while heifers are pushed to the back of the mind. Although many consider a good, early start and maintaining production later on most important, nutrition during the transition period is what helps prepare the cow for long-term production.