Although milk production is the main and obvious focus of the dairy industry, a secondary but equally important component of the dairy business is the production and marketing of beef cattle resulting from surplus bull calves and cull cows.

In just two years of raising calves, my husband and I have learned a lot. Here are a few key lessons that come to mind:

Environmental Farm Plans (EFP) were started in Ontario approximately 20 years ago and have expanded into the rest of the country in various forms.

For the past 32 years, the Western Canadian Dairy Seminar (WCDS) has focused on providing novel ideas, information and solutions relevant to current and emerging challenges of the Canadian dairy industry. The 2015 event, to be held March 10-13 at the Sheraton Red Deer in Red Deer, Alberta, will do the same.

If we look at the dairy industry, there are numerous approaches to calf rearing. While there is no one single, current-day approach that is best, there is one optimal way to rear calves we can learn much from. That optimal way of rearing calves is to leave the calf with her dam. This is the way the calf was designed to be raised and nurtured.

Transition cow performance and management is crucial to every herd’s success and profitability. Cows that are neglected during the transition period or that fail to have their needs met are being set up for failure. Herd productivity and profitability are distinctly linked to the success or failure of the transition period.