As the weather gets cooler, often with large temperature swings between night and day, calf feeding programs need to be adjusted.

Maintenance requirements must be met for growth and development; however, ensuring strong growth has been linked to improved performance (earlier breeding and increased milk yield).

We dairy farmers are excellent at producing milk. We take pride in what we do. We have the drive to get up every morning, pull on the coveralls and milk cows.

We know who is next on the list to calve and that, by Bessie’s sideways glance, she needs to be bred. Although many us excel in the production side of the farm, many of us need help on the business side.

As harvest progresses, the visual evidence of this summer’s drought throughout eastern Canada will soon be left only to memory.

However, the effects of 2012’s hot, dry weather will likely be felt for a few years and by more than those who witnessed the withering plants first-hand.

Like those of you in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces, I spent most of the summer praying for rain. I had watched as one shower that occurred shortly after planting made my soybeans sprout out of the ground, only to then see them sit there almost stagnant for weeks on end as the sun rose and set with not a rain cloud in sight.

Are you stressed by the thought that your cows are treating you better than the people on your dairy?

What would it look like if you could find a tool to help you understand yourself better and make your farm team more harmonious?