It could be argued that newborn calf care protocols are more important than anything else you do on the farm. The future of your herd stands on four wobbly little legs and looks to you to help get it off to the right start.

Automated calf feeders are a popular choice for farms looking to increase labor efficiency, improve social interaction of calves, help calves make a smoother transition to weaning and to maximize growth potential and future performance.

My mom always told me I should never say I “hate” something. So trying to be a good son, I will not say that I “hate” feeding calves, but I will tell you I very much loathe feeding baby calves. Only someone who has raised a calf from birth to weaning can understand my strong dislike.

Selecting the right milk replacer for your calves is a big decision. It’s a product with a lifetime impact; not only can a quality milk replacer address initial health problems and boost calf performance, it can also turn calves into productive cows later in life. With so much at stake, producers must fully analyze their options before making a purchase.

Fat is an energy-dense nutrient that is high in calf milk replacers. In North America, most of the fat in a milk replacer is from lard or tallow. Little comes from the milk ingredients as milkfat garners a higher price in the human food market than a calf feed market. The typical milk replacer fed in North America is 20 to 22 percent crude protein (CP) and 20 percent fat.

Digestive and metabolic upsets are just some of the challenges in pre-weaned calf rearing. Rumen drinking is a condition that occurs when milk is ingested into the rumen in large quantities.

In a culture where consumers are taking an increased interest in how their food is raised, the topic of animal welfare has become increasingly popular. To help producers develop protocols for their operations that follow the current animal welfare standard, Merck Animal Health has developed a series of training modules which are available on their Dairy CARE 365 website.

Past experience has taught the men and women of the agriculture industry to eye animal welfare commitments from major corporations with an apprehensive eye. Nestlé’s latest commitment appears to be no exception to this rule. In an Aug. 21, 2014, press release, Nestlé announced its partnership with NGO World Animal Protection and renewed its commitment to farm animal welfare. Nestlé has 7,300 suppliers who act as middlemen between Nestlé and producers. Consequently, this initiative affects tens of thousands of dairymen around the world.

We constantly hear that a healthy gut is the key for proper animal development, but what does gut health mean? It means that all the cells and layers that form the gastrointestinal (GI) tract maintain their integrity and composition; thus, the function of the gut is optimal.

Since I have been home from New Zealand and back in the rhythm of farming, work and engaging in the ag community in Montana, there has been a lot of time to think about how New Zealand is different than here. The first question other dairy farmers ask when we talk about New Zealand is: “How was it?” or “What did you think?”