Sometimes I think water is not valued enough for dairy cattle because it seems to be “free” or costs little compared to other feedstuffs. And it all begins with calves

You’ve heard it before: calves fed a higher plane of nutrition make more milk in the first lactation. But how does it happen?

Do we really have the opportunity to improve first-lactation milk yield with the decisions we make when the calf is still consuming milk or milk replacer?

Research has shown us that a calf’s diet today can influence its milking potential two years down the road

A dairy feeder calf is a young (1 to 14 days of age), often male, calf that leaves the dairy farm to enter the red meat industry

We're all influenced by two factors: genetics and the environment. Genetics are preset, but how we feed our calves influences their future potential

At birth, the majority of calves will only absorb 30 to 35 percent of the immunoglobulins they consume. Clean colostrum helps ensure antibodies get to the gut before bacteria has a chance to shut absorption...

First-calf heifers bear the brunt of production losses and dry matter intake drops when housed with older cows. We have the power to change that

A calf is like a bank account; for best results, make high-quality deposits starting at day one. On the farm, the best way to measure a calf's immune defenses is by testing for total protein (TP) in blood....

Staying ahead of crypto. It's common, tough to treat, and can spread to feeders. That "ounce of prevention" is your best bet. There are products that can be added to milk or replacer that will help control...