The 2025 Operations Managers conference entitled "Empowering Managers: Embracing Diversity, Consistency, and Attitude for Success" was hosted by Cornell PRO-DAIRY and Northeast Dairy Producers Association at the end of January. Check out some of my favorite takeaways from the conference.

Weaning can be a stressful time not just for the calf but also for the farmers. Check out this brief article to find out the best weaning management practices to ensure a winning transition for you and your calves. 

For those who are calving, lambing, and kidding this time of year, frost bite on the youngsters is a real concern. The good news is that while we can't control Mother Nature, we can manage around the worst weather to help reduce the risk of frostbite and assist animals that are affected.

Good colostrum management builds a strong foundation for cow health and production. Building this strong foundation requires four key steps: create a detailed plan, choose quality materials, build the foundation, evaluate and adjust. There are also common errors in colostrum management that can create cracks in your foundation. Check out this article to make sure you have a firm foundation. 

Ticks dying during a harsh winter is a widely held belief, but observations and research indicate that they can survive extended periods of cold and snow. Instead, the winter conditions just slow the spread of populations to new areas and put a damper on the expansion of existing populations.

Every farm, regardless of size, that handles animal waste must be prepared to manage a manure-handling emergency. While prevention is the best strategy to reduce the risk of this type of emergency, not all manure spills can be prevented; therefore, a written emergency action plan should be developed for every farm. This article highlights the components in an emergency action plan and their importance.

Two competitive state grants are available to fund start-up, improvement, or expansion of farm operations; support for marketing, training, construction, and more! Applications open October 25th and December 30th, closing January 24th, 2025 and December 30, 2024, respectively.

Starting November 5, 2024, RFID "840" tags will be required for cattle that need official identification. There is no change to the cattle classes that require official ID, just a change to the tag requirements.

While no cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza have been reported in NYS cattle, the state is sharing federal recommendations for testing and interstate movement of cattle to fairs and shows this summer. Included in this article are links to remain abreast of the most current findings, testing requirements, and biosecurity recommendations for HPAI in cattle.

Calf-rearing programs on farms have undergone significant changes in recent years. Traditionally, these programs aimed to reduce raising costs of replacement heifers by promoting early starter feed intake, providing calves with an average of 1.2 lb./d of milk solids (~ 4 quarts of whole milk daily), and weaning them at 4-6 weeks of age. However, research has shown that higher nutrition plans during the pre-weaning phase benefit animal health and welfare and can potentially boost future milk production (Soberon et al., 2012). Consequently, the industry has increased milk/milk replacer allowances to an average of at least 1.7 lb./d (~ 6 quarts of whole milk daily) and extended the pre-weaning phase to at least eight weeks of age. While this is a better practice regarding calf health and welfare, it presents a new challenge: preparing calves to transition from liquid to solid diets. This task requires careful planning and execution.

After almost four months of "stabbing" calf necks to collect blood samples to evaluate the transfer of passive immunity in 10 farms across SWNY, it is time to reflect on the lessons learned. First, I would like to thank all the farms that accepted participation in the project. I appreciate the time we spent together, during which I had the opportunity to meet you for the first time and to get to know you and your farm better. 

The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center is now accepting applications for their Goat and Sheep Dairy Development Grants, which can be used for both individual business projects and sector enhancement projects. The deadline to apply is June 6.