Starting Strong – Calf Care

Panelists: (left to right) Cody Heller, Heller Farms; Ignacio Escamilla, Heller Farms; and Vicente Ramirez, T&K Red River Dairy By Peggy Coffeen, Progressive Dairyman Taking the time to understand the culture of Hispanic employees can build loyalty and cut down on costly turnover. During the Vita Plus Dairy Summit, Cody Heller, Cows R Us Consulting

By Pat Hoffman, Vita Plus dairy technical specialist Most of us have heard the old cliché "milk doesn’t come from the store" and the cliché is common fabric among us whom are passionate about the dairy industry.  In short, it simply means we want to tell our story. The same can be said for dairy

By Milk Products LLC calf nutrition team The energy calves need is most readily available to them by the fat in their diets. The best milk replacers start with high-quality, (human) edible-grade fat sources, which are the gold standard for animal milk replacers. Research supports the use of these high-quality fats to maintain the best

By Dr. Noah Litherland, Vita Plus dairy youngstock technical specialist Determining the cause of scours in calves is often difficult.  Unlike the majority of monogastric animals, ruminants cannot vomit to expel stomach contents before reaching the small intestine.  Newborn calves also make low amount of stomach acid (to protect colostral antibodies), which is a natural

By Bob Hagenow, Vita Plus sales manager and dairy consultant Q:  This winter has been very hard on my calf team.  Working in the cold temperatures and struggling with equipment has everyone lagging.  How can I help motivate my employees to charge through to warmer temperatures? A:  Baby, it’s cold outside! First, let’s remember that

By Kevin Caspersen, Vita Plus dairy specialist As we all know, this winter has been a tough one on people, calves and heifers in the I-29 corridor.  The memorable winter continues with the mercury dipping to zero or below 44 times this winter so far - the most since the winter of 1981-82, according to

In this edition of Starting Strong A Day in the Life of a Calf Raiser, Danae Stieglitz of Stieglitz Dairy LLC talks about the things she does to get ready for spring.  She puts a big focus on good ventilation and respiratory health.  Visit our YouTube channel for other A Day in the Life of

Calves Thrive With a Commitment to the Basics at Model Dairy Farms You can say dairy farming is in Kyle Levetzow’s blood.  He and his wife, Amy, are the second generation to own and operate Model Dairy Farms at its current site just outside of Dodgeville, Wisconsin.  Kyle oversees all daily operations and Amy works

In this edition of Starting Strong Calf Chat, Ann explains the basics of a higher plane of nutrition and how essential these feeding programs have been during this winter's frigid temperatures.  Visit our YouTube channel for more Calf Chat segments.

Do you only have one calf feeder on your farm?  Are you looking for a quick and easy way to feed pasteurized waste milk or milk replacer to your calves?  Danae Stieglitz of Stieglitz Dairy LLC has a creative strategy that just might work for you.  Visit our YouTube channel for more Calf Care Quick

By Peter Coyne, Vita Plus dairy field service specialist Many people who work with cows and calves on a daily basis have a solid understanding of animal behavior.  They are fairly predictable. What about the people you work with? Today, dairies of all sizes depend on teams of people who work together to accomplish the

By Cody Yanzick, Vita Plus dairy specialist Let’s say your heifer program is struggling.  Animals are getting bred and entering the milking herd later than they should.  You know you need to make changes, but you’re not sure where to start. The old adage – you can’t manage it if you don’t measure it –

By Dave Wood, director of technical services and sales, Animix, LLC Whole milk fails to meet basic vitamin and trace mineral requirements of the young milk-fed calf. Vitamin and trace mineral levels as reported by the USDA  and calf requirements as reported in the 2001 NRC for dairy cattle show that a gallon of whole

By Dr. Laurie Winkelman, Vita Plus dairy nutritionist and technical services specialist It is no secret that feed costs are, by far, the largest expense on a dairy farm. In a relatively normal population of animals on a farm, about half the animals (the milking cows) are able to pay their own way, while heifers

By Ann Hoskins, Vita Plus calf products coordinator Q:  We pasteurize our waste milk from treated and high-somatic-cell-count cows.  I was wondering if milk replacer has a higher concentration of vitamins and minerals compared to pasteurized milk.  If feeding pasteurized milk, do we need to fortify the milk with added vitamins and minerals for the

By Mike Richter, Vita Plus dairy specialist Northern Wisconsin has a fair share of snow already.  This is a good time to catch up on fall deworming of youngstock if you were caught in the busyness of this year’s unusual harvest. Many producers in our area turn their older calves and heifers out onto the