For many dairy farmers, having milk cows that spend a good deal of their lives grazing on well-managed and productive pastures is an environmentally friendly and profitable way to dairy.

Most nearly everyone I discuss calf raising with will tell me that it’s one of the most challenging jobs on the dairy. When things aren’t going well – namely, calves are sick and mortality rates are unacceptably high – calf raising is frustrating, to say the least.

All across the country dairy farmers are again struggling to stay in business. The milk-to-feed price ratio is the lowest it’s ever been, making it increasingly more difficult to make ends meet. As we know, the solution to the problem is very simple – all costs of production must, as a whole, be lower than the price of milk. And wouldn’t we all sleep a little better knowing we’re getting … hmmm … maybe $30 per hundredweight (cwt) for our milk?