By Chris Zoller, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Tuscarawas County, The Ohio State University
Dairy farm labor is one of the major costs of production, and farm labor is regularly described as an area of concern by dairy farmers. Ohio State University is providing a certificate course to assist dairy farm owners and managers with labor management on farms. This course provides opportunities for participants to examine labor costs, define labor needs, examine hiring processes, promote relationships among farm workers, increase retention, and identify ways to promote employee well-being.
Structure
This five-week course will be held weekly on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 2:00 pm in January and February 2021.
Narrow down the cause of calf scours
The two or so months prior to weaning really lay the foundation for a healthy, productive dairy animal. It is important to review the success of your preweaned calf program every now and then.
Margaret Quaassdorff, dairy management specialist for Cornell University Extension, talked about factors to track when it comes to preweaned calves during a Pro-Dairy “Trouble shooting herd health issues on your dairy” podcast. One of them is percent death loss.
“The overall benchmark goal is to be under 5% of calves that die prior to weaning,” she shared. Beyond that number, Quaassdorff said to also track the causes contributing to death loss.
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