Heifer-raising costs - Articles - Page 2

Creating a win-win: Grazing heifers for economic and ecological returns

Grazing heifers in a rotational grazing system not only offers ecological benefits but may also offer cost savings and improve animal health.

March 26, 2024

Nick Jordan, Sarah Lloyd, and Lexi Schank

Dairy heifer grazing increases the amount of well-managed grassland in an area – improving dairy’s climate performance and supporting the regeneration of soil, water and biodiversity resources.

Cow longevity is a key to dairy profitability

A look at longevity shows a potential for added profitability.

November 17, 2023

Matt Groen

Looking at return over feed numbers is an excellent way to get a quick snapshot of how a dairy farm is performing from a production and cost standpoint, however it doesn’t account for and is not impacted by duration of cows in the herd.

Preparing dairy heifers for first-lactation success

August 21, 2023

Preparing dairy heifers for a successful first lactation can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Use the team around you to focus on proper management and nutrition to get your heifers off to a great start.

Wait or weight? How defining insemination eligibility and reproductive performance of heifers impacts first-lactation bodyweight and milk production

Recent research conducted at the University of Wisconsin – Madison studied how insemination eligibility and reproductive performance affects first-lactation performance.

August 12, 2023

Paul M. Fricke and Megan Lauber

The current trend in the dairy industry is to decrease age at conception, thereby decreasing age at first calving (AFC) to decrease raising costs by generating income from milk production sooner.

Recording and analyzing data: Does it really help?

Measuring weights and accurately recording health events can help improve management decisions, which is how we improve over time.

July 14, 2023

Kevin Dhuyvetter

You have probably heard the saying “If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it” or some variation of it. But is this really true? Dairy managers, and people in all industries, routinely manage things that are not measured.

What is the right number of heifers to raise?

Managing heifer inventories and determining how many heifers to keep is a more frequent and varied discussion today than in the past. Farms should ascertain exactly how many replacement heifers they need and strategize their management.

July 6, 2023

Jim Moriarty

If we go back 10-plus years, most dairy farms bred all their cows and heifers for dairy calves and raised all heifer calves as dairy herd replacements.

Turn platinum heifers into golden girls

Creating an environment that creates and retains more profitable mature cows and producing the right number of quality mature heifers is a large part of the productive life story.

March 20, 2023

Gavin Staley

Against the backdrop of ongoing water shortages and high feed costs, there are compelling reasons to increase the productive life of dairy herds.

Calf data – the missing puzzle piece in cow performance?

Data can help uncover why an animal isn’t meeting performance goals and reveal management areas to improve. Records should start at birth and include disease, serum total protein and weights.

April 29, 2022

Taliah Danzinger

We rely on cow data to make decisions every day. But what about calf and heifer data? Too often we only detect underperforming animals once they enter the milking string. Why is one cow falling behind her peers? Without data to inform us, we’re left guessing the reason.

Raising heifer replacements – labor costs and labor efficiency

July 28, 2021

Lauren Augello

How much does it cost to raise a heifer from birth to first calving? The costs associated with raising heifers are often overlooked when analyzing expenses on dairy farms.

Heifer growing challenges and parameters: Maximize efficiency

May 18, 2021

Alois F. Kertz

While there seems to be general agreement on the benefit of having heifers calve at 24 months of age, according to 2014 National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) data, it’s not happening.

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Articles Tagged with ''heifer-raising costs''

Creating a win-win: Grazing heifers for economic and ecological returns

Cow longevity is a key to dairy profitability

Preparing dairy heifers for first-lactation success

Wait or weight? How defining insemination eligibility and reproductive performance of heifers impacts first-lactation bodyweight and milk production

Recording and analyzing data: Does it really help?

What is the right number of heifers to raise?

Turn platinum heifers into golden girls

Calf data – the missing puzzle piece in cow performance?

Raising heifer replacements – labor costs and labor efficiency

Heifer growing challenges and parameters: Maximize efficiency

Canadian cattle sector looks to Indo-Pacific for long-term export growth

Forage Market Insights: Markets hold steady as supply signals shift

A grand experiment: Windy Hill Meadows' big science project

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