Originally published: March 1, 2011, in Progressive Dairyman magazine, this article has received more than 4,300 pageviews, with a majority of the online traffic coming from a Google search for “functional proteins.” to jump to the article. In this article, Jim Quigley explained that proteins that have biological activity can be referred to as functional proteins. Immunoglobulins found in colostrum are an example of beneficial functional proteins.

Finding ways to cut costs and promote efficiency in your dairy operation helps boost your bottom line. But nothing yields you more long-term profits than a healthy herd. And the only way to ensure this continued success is through proactive heifer health management.

Calf producers have traditionally raised calves in individual pens or hutches. This system of calf rearing has advantages of individual feeding, observation and reduced risk of cross-contamination. It is, however, still labor-intensive. Dairy cattle are naturally group-living animals.

Your baby calves represent the future of your dairy herd. The future in terms of genetic potential, herd size, milk production and profitability. Getting lots of heifers into the milking herd as soon as possible increases your bottom line by both improving your herd’s average as well as reducing overall heifer-raising costs.

Colostrum management is a challenge on every dairy. And while most dairy producers know that getting the right amount of colostrum at the right time is critical to the health of their calves, up to 40 percent of calves are not getting enough protective antibodies from colostrum.

New government regulations will eliminate the use of 2-to-1 Neo-Terra (2 parts Neomycin to 1 part Oxytetracycline in combination) for calf milk replacers in 2010. While the benefits of Neo-Terra use in milk replacers have been questionable, its use in calf milk replacers will be less practical and considerably more expensive.

With odor climbing near the top of things dairymen should regulate, the Patz Corporation developed a way to zap it from a dairy’s list of concerns. Its new OZy manure treatment system released in August uses electricity to treat manure prior to storage or land application. Manure with less than 8 percent solids is drawn from a storage vessel into the machine.

Liquid manure is a valuable source of nutrients and organic matter for crop production and may be applied by a variety of methods including irrigation, surface spreading and shallow subsurface injection. With a low nutrient concentration, liquid animal manure may be applied at relatively high volumes, but it is generally recommended that it not be applied at rates that exceed the soil infiltration rate, nor exceed the amount needed to bring the soil to field water-holding capacity. Liquid manure discharges from agricultural drains have been reported in soils with subsurface (tile) drainage due to macropore flow.

As plans for planting and getting into fields accelerate, preparing ahead for manure application will help to streamline the process, insure proper nutrient application rates to support anticipated crop yields, prevent nutrient losses, and comply with manure application regulations.