As replacement heifer prices continue to reach historic highs, today’s dairy producers must focus on getting the most out of their replacements

All producers are excited to watch their upcoming replacement heifers develop, in anticipation of performance in the milking string as the top genetics of the herd

Heifer inventories have flirted with generational lows, and prices for bred or fresh heifers have bumped against the ceiling. An interesting analysis in a recent Virginia Dairy Pipeline reminded farmers...

A hoof condition that has been nearly eradicated from the cow population is now showing up in heifers

Straw is commonly fed in traditional heifer diets to reduce the energy density of the ration and intake due to straw’s slow and poor digestibility

Record prices for dairy-beef crossbred calves have made it easy to swing the pendulum to using more beef genetics for cash flow

“Just because an udder is not lactating doesn’t mean it’s not doing anything,” said Ben Enger during the National Mastitis Council Annual Meeting

Ensure that your heifer facilities are designed for your heifer sizes and needs

Now more than ever, dairy heifers have become a precious commodity

Let’s be honest: our heifers usually get the short end of the stick when it comes to housing

Much has been written about milk supplies over the last year. In the U.S., it is no secret that the industry is short on replacement heifers, as dairymen have continued to incorporate beef breeding into...

The transition from heifer to lactating cow is a big change for fresh heifers

“Compensatory growth never works in our favor,” said Margaret Quaassdorff during a Cornell Cooperative Extension webinar

When I stop at a farm for an assessment of the heifer program, the first thing I usually do is ask three questions

After the U.S. dairy industry experienced years of declining fertility in our cows, the trend finally turned around by the early 2000s

Timely breeding of replacements has long been a goal of competitive dairy producers in order to limit overall days on feed

Dairy heifers weighing over 500 pounds — a proxy for the number of dairy replacements expected to enter the U.S. milking herd over the next year — have fallen almost 15% during the past six...

Let’s talk about first-calf heifers, or, as I like to call them, first-calf velociraptors

Breeding heifers to calve in around 2 years old puts them on a productive track to begin paying off the costs of their rearing and avoid mounting up additional expenses while they remain open