In the last column, I discussed batteries because they are the source of the electrical system. In this article we will continue our discussion on electrical systems, shifting focus from the battery to the starter. The battery cables are directly connected to the starter and the ground. Then you have neutral safety switches and some kind of starter switch, which could either be a key switch or a relay (mag) switch leading into the solenoid starter. These neutral switches prevent you from starting the engine while it is in gear, making it more of a safety switch.

You’ve heard the old adage, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat!” In northern Indiana there’s more than one way to skin a renegade cow!

As dairy farms grow and expand their milking herd numbers, so does the dairy replacement herd. With 8 percent of the total number of cows represented by preweaned calves, the number of calves for operations 500 cows and larger can be a minimum of 40 calves on milk at one time. With more calves to feed as the dairy operations grow, time, labor and facilities devoted to the replacement herd also increases.

There are probably as many ways to raise dairy replacements as there are people raising dairy replacements. Most of these methods are successful; however, everyone knows that some are more successful than others. At the most recent ADSA meetings in Denver last summer, we presented an evaluation of data we have collected to determine what impacts growth of neonatal calves through eight weeks old.

Nature designed whole milk as food for baby calves. It contains 3 to 3.4 percent protein, 3.5 to 4.5 percent fat and 12.5 percent total solids. On a dry powder basis, milk contains 24 to 27 percent protein and 28 to 36 percent fat. It seems obvious that calves would grow better when fed whole milk, as it is richer in nutrients than the traditional 20 percent protein:20 percent fat milk replacer powder. So why feed a milk replacer?

Nearly 75 percent of our time is spent communicating our thoughts and ideas. However, we are not conscious that non-verbal communication, such as facial expression, eye contact, voice intonation, body posture and motions, can express more than the oral forms do. During the process of communication, messages are sent on both levels, in verbal and non-verbal mode. Non-verbal communication accounts for 80 percent of the interpretation of the message. If the non-verbal and verbal messages are incongruous, communication fails.

I can’t remember how many songs Martin wrote, probably half of my notebook full of livin’ room hits! I guess nobody knew me as well as Martin. All those sad love songs, honky tonk songs, funny ones, bluegrass, country, cowboy, even the occasional gospel song, he heard first.

A tool to assess the critical points of management and their impact on the welfare of calves and heifers was recently developed by researchers at Laval University, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Valacta. Their results were published in the Journal of Dairy Science and are summarized below. The development and implementation of these types of assessment tools are a critical counter-balance to the legislation approach to animal welfare that groups such as the Humane Society of the U.S. employed recently in California and Ohio.

Arriving in Pakistan in early December, I have begun my work here as an expeditionary agricultural scientist. My mandate here is largely agricultural reconstruction and stabilization (R&S), and this work is largely in the realm of the third foreign policy pillar of the three D’s: defense, diplomacy and development.