Dairy Star Winter Calf & Heifer Tab 2021

DAIRY ST R WINTER

Calf & Heifer Special Edition

PHOTO BY KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR

November 14, 2020

Page 2 • Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020

DAIRY ST R www.dairystar.com

522 Sinclair Lewis Ave. Sauk Centre, MN 56378 Phone: (320) 352-6303 Fax: (320) 352-5647

Published by Dairy Star LLC General Manager/Editor

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Nancy Powell 320-352-6303 nancy.p@dairystar.com Consultant Jerry Jennissen 320-346-2292 Editorial Staff

Krista Kuzma - Editor/Wisconsin (507) 259-8159 • krista.k@dairystar.com Andrea Borgerding - Associate Editor (320) 352-6303 • andrea.b@dairystar.com Jennifer Coyne - Assistant Editor (320) 352-6303 • jenn@dairystar.com Danielle Nauman (608) 487-1101 danielle.n@dairystar.com Stacey Smart - Staff Writer (262) 442-6666 • stacey.s@dairystar.com Maria Bichler - Copy Editor 320-352-6303 Advertising Sales Main Ofce: 320-352-6303 Fax: 320-352-5647 Deadline is 5 p.m. of the Friday the week before publication

Sales Manager - Joyce Frericks 320-352-6303 • joyce@dairystar.com Mark Klaphake (Western MN) 320-352-6303 (ofce) • 320-248-3196 (cell) Laura Seljan (National Advertising, SE MN) 507-250-2217 fax: 507-634-4413 laura.s@dairystar.com Jerry Nelson (SW MN, NW Iowa, South Dakota) 605-690-6260 jerry.n@dairystar.com Bob Leukam (Northern MN, East Central MN) 320-260-1248 (cell) bob.l@star-pub.com Mike Schafer (Central, South Central MN) 320-894-7825 mike.s@dairystar.com Amanda Hoeer (Eastern Iowa) 320-250-2884 • amanda.h@dairystar.com Julie Barnes (SE WI and Northern IL) julie.b@dairystar.com Megan Stuessel (Western Wisconsin) 608-387-1202 • megan.s@dairystar.com Ashley Curry (Northeast WI and Upper MI) 920-539-7268 • ashley.c@dairystar.com Deadlines The deadline for news and advertising in the Dairy Star is 5 p.m. Friday the week before publication.

Subscriptions One year subscription $35.00, outside the U.S. $110.00. Send check along with mailing address to Dairy Star, 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave., Sauk Centre, MN 56378.

Raising calves at Ash Grove Dairy

Couple credits automatic calf feeders, cleanliness as keys to success

By Jerry Nelson

jerry.n@dairystar.com

LAKE BENTON, Minn. – Raising healthy calves is a critical component of any successful dairy operation.

After all, heifer calves are not only replacements for older cows. They are the genetic future of the dairy herd.

No one knows this better than Randy and Jennifer Gross, the husband and wife team who owns and manages Ash Grove Dairy. About 1,100 cows are being milked three times a day at Ash Grove Dairy in Lake Benton.

“Between 90 to 120 calves are born on our farm every month,” Randy said. “We use sexed semen on our virgin heifers. About 23% of our herd is currently bred to Angus bulls. When we pick out our beef sires, we select for fertility, calf size and beef traits that cattle feeders want. We sell all of our bull calves shortly after they are born.”

Jennifer is in charge of calf care at

JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR

The calves at Ash Grove Dairy are kept in pens of 15 to 20 animals. The pens are given fresh bedding at least once per week, more oŌen during the cold winter months.

JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR

Randy and Jennifer Gross own and manage Ash Grove Dairy, a 1,100 cow operaƟon located near Lake Benton, Minnesota. Between 90 to 120 calves are born at Ash Grove Dairy every month.

Ash Grove Dairy.

“We make sure that each calf is fed a gallon of colostrum within a few hours of birth,” Jennifer said. “We pasteurize all of our colostrum and test it for quality.”

Calves are put in pens of 15-20 animals and are fed milk replacer with automatic feeders.

“We have used automatic calf feeders for several years,” Jennifer said. “Not only do the feeders save on labor, but they also enable us to vary the amount of milk replacer each calf receives.”

During the calves’ rst week of life, they are fed 3 quarts of milk replacer every 12 hours. Starting with the second week, intake is gradually increased to 6 quarts of milk replacer every 12 hours.

“We can also vary the amount of milk replacer a calf gets according to her size,” Jennifer said. “It’s amazing how much they will eat if you let them.”

Jennifer feeds her calves a high-fat,

high-protein milk replacer that has been specially designed for automatic calf feeders.

“We have tried cheaper milk replacers, but they just didn’t perform as well,” Jennifer said.

Cows give birth in a bedding pack maternity pen. Newborn calves are moved to a small pen where an overhead radiant heater dries them off.

“During their rst 24 hours, we vaccinate our calves with ScourGuard and Nasalgen,” Jennifer said. “We also put dehorning paste on their horn buds.

We used to dehorn the calves when they were a little older. We would give them a general anesthetic and burn off their horn buds with a hot iron. We like the paste much better. If you apply the dehorning paste within 24 hours of birth, the calves don’t even feel it because the nerves haven’t yet fully connected with the horn buds.”

Turn to ASH GROVE DAIRY | Page 3

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Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020 • Page 3

ConƟnued from ASH GROVE DAIRY | Page 2

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Jennifer Gross checks the control panel of one of the automaƟc calf feeders at Ash Grove Dairy near Lake Benton, Minnesota. She can vary the amount of high fat, high protein milk replacer her calves receive according to the animal’s size and age.

The calf pens at Ash Grove Dairy are given fresh straw bedding once a week, more often during the cold winter months. The original steel siding on the south wall of their calf barn has been replaced with polycarbonate panels that let in light and warmth from the sun.

“The automatic calf feeders are great, but I still walk the pens at least twice a day,” Jennifer said. “You don’t have to worry as much about feeding

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Managing calves is especially challenging during the winter months.

“When the outdoor temperatures drop below zero, we will put jackets on our newborn calves for their rst few weeks,” Jennifer said. “It’s also more difcult to manage the airow in the barn during the winter. We have to strike a balance between removing moisture and keeping the calf barn warm. And the automatic calf feeders enable us to increase the concentration of the milk replacer during cold weather.”

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Page 4 • Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020

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Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020 • Page 5

ConƟnued from ASH GROVE DAIRY | Page 3 the calves, but you still have to watch them.”

Randy and Jennifer had previously raised their heifer calves in hutches.

“It was a real learning curve to go from hutches and bottles to automatic feeders,” Jennifer said. “But we like the group pens a lot more than individual hutches. The calves get socialized with each other right from birth. That makes it easier to introduce them to larger groups. And it’s fun to watch the calves playing together.”

In the fall of 2017, an insidious and unwelcome visitor arrived at Ash Grove Dairy.

“Our farm was hit by the Salmonella Dublin bacteria,” Jennifer said. “It started when we began to see some extreme respiratory problems in our calves.

Most of the affected calves would develop symptoms when they were about a month old. We would give the calves every medication we could think of, but many of them still didn’t improve. It’s heartbreaking to deal with sick calves that won’t respond to treatment.”

It took a lot of time and effort and numerous tissue cultures to identify the culprit.

“We don’t know how Salmonella Dublin got here,” Jennifer said. “We tried to vaccinate for it, but that didn’t seem to help. The thing that really made a difference was when we started to pasteurize our colostrum. That proved to be the key.”

Randy and Jennifer’s experience with Salmonella Dublin has brought home the importance of cleanliness in their calf facilities.

“The automatic calf feeders sanitize themselves twice a day, and I change their hoses regularly,” Jennifer said. “Every day, everything gets scrubbed and disinfected with chlorine dioxide. It’s important to have a sanitizing agent that can break down the bacteria’s lipid membrane.”

Jennifer begins the weaning process when the calves reach 42 days of age.

“We gradually decrease their milk replacer by .4 of a quart per day,” Jennifer said. “It takes three weeks to wean our calves entirely. We keep them here until they are 90-110 days old before we take them to our calf grower. By the time they leave our farm, our calves are eating lots of free choice grass hay and 8-9 pounds of calf starter each day.”

Even though the calf program at Ash Grove Dairy is running smoothly, Jennifer has a wish list.

“I wish that I could redesign our calf barns to give them better ventilation and improved oor drainage,” she said. “And, I wish that we could have a wean barn where we could keep our calves until they are 6 months old. But like our heifer calves, those are things for the future.”

JERRY NELSON/DAIRY STAR

(Right) Newborn calves are put into a pen that features an overhead radiant heater at Ash Grove Dairy near Lake Benton, Minnesota. The radiant heater can be raised or lowered to accommodate temperature variaƟons.

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Page 6 • Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020

Growing tomorrow’s milk cows

Increased energy, feed additives help heifers through winter months at Prairie Dairy

By Stacey Smart

stacey.s@dairystar.com

OAKFIELD, Wis. – Ed Smith has a long, successful track record in the custom heifer raising business.

Devoted to raising quality animals for farmers’ future milking herds, he and his son, Jason, along with Nate and Dusty Kollmann, are committed to the success of each animal they take in.

Specializing in custom dairy replacements, Prairie Dairy in Oakeld raises heifers from post-weaning to prefresh at two sites. “Growing the herds of tomorrow together today” is the farm’s slogan.

“We’ve been raising heifers for almost 25 years, and we care deeply about the quality of product we put out,” Ed said.

Ed ventured into the custom heifer raising business after an F5 tornado tore through his farm in 1996. Milking 150 cows at the time, he was left without power and no place to hook up a generator and was forced to move cattle elsewhere. The farm suffered signicant damage, but Jason, who was 6 years old at the time, told his dad not to sell because he wanted to be a farmer someday. Ed kept the farm but changed course when he decided to sell his cows and start raising heifers in 1997.

“Raising heifers was a big change,” Ed said. “There was a lot to learn.”

The Kollmann brothers came on

STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

The team at Prairie Dairy – (from leŌ) Nate Kollmann, Dusty Kollmann, Jason Smith, Ed Smith and Ed’s grandson, Edison – raise custom dairy replacements from approximately 3-20 months of age near Oakeld, Wisconsin. board in 2012. These former dairy farmers began milking in a new facility in 2008, and their new freestall barn would later become the breeding facility for Prairie Dairy.

“It was during the nancial crisis of ’08-’09, and the bank wouldn’t let us ll the new building,” Nate said.

“Eventually, Dusty started working another job.”

Meanwhile, over at the Smiths’, buildings were getting full. When they

got wind of the Kollmanns’ place sitting empty, they knew the freestall facility would be perfect for raising heifers and eventually began renting the barn.

Calves arrive at Prairie Dairy between 3-5 months of age, starting in a bedded counter-slope barn until approximately 10 months. From there, heifers move to a freestall barn. At 12 months, heifers are sent to the farm’s breeding facility. Bred heifers are checked for pregnancy three to

four times through a combination of ultrasound and palpation. Once conrmed pregnant, heifers return to the main facility and are sent home between 18-20 months. Heifers of breeding age and older go through foot baths and get their hooves trimmed before leaving.

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Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020 • Page 7

rather than later.”

The dairy uses a feed additive between 4-9 months to help reduce oxidative stress, which has aided in better transitioning, gains and growth as well as a decrease in pneumonia.

“The additive gives heifers a boost and really helps with the winter months,” Jason said. “Winter can cause a lot of stress on cattle, so this has been a good t. Since we started adding it to the ration two years ago, we have had very little pneumonia.”

Keeping animals clean and dry is a primary objective, especially in the winter. Barns are cleaned every day and bedded every other day. The bedding pack is cleaned out twice a year – in spring and fall.

Bedding options include bean stubble, straw, dry cornstalks, dry chopped grass or wood mulch, which the Smiths began bedding with for the rst time this past summer.

“We strive for clean and healthy animals, and with Turn to PRAIRIE DAIRY | Page 8 STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR

Heifers between 4-9 months of age receive a feed addiƟve in their raƟon, resulƟng in beƩer transiƟoning, gains and growth at Prairie Dairy near Oakeld, Wisconsin. are central components of the Prairie Dairy heifer raising program. Every heifer is individually weighed at specic intervals to help monitor growth and performance. Jason said weights serve as valuable information when heading into the winter months, helping to guide ration changes to ensure heifers are receiving adequate energy.

An individual weight and wither height of each heifer is taken when she arrives and then again as she progresses from barn to barn. The Smiths track average daily gain, shooting for 2-2.5 pounds per day for 4- to 5-month-old heifers and 1.8-2 pounds per day for breeding-age heifers. Measuring growth rates and other key performance markers is standard practice at Prairie Dairy.

“If you can’t measure something, you can’t manage it,” Ed said.

Other production goals include a pregnancy rate of 40% and body condition score of 3+ for bred heifers with rst calving at 22-23 months of age.

Heifers thrive under the watchful eyes of the Smiths and Kollmanns. These professional heifer growers pour their hearts into top-notch, one-on-one heifer care.

“Heifers are the future, and we want to take good care of them,” Nate said.

The Smiths send their clients monthly reports that include details such as weight, height, average daily gain, breeding dates, pregnancy conrmation, calving date and health information.

“We make decisions off of these reports, and they help us manage better going into the winter months,” Jason said.

Heifers are fed choice feed which the Smiths and Kollmanns grow on 700 acres. The youngest heifers are fed a concentrate diet initially before transitioning to a forage/grain total mixed ration. Rations are customized according to age and netuned for winter.

“We pride ourselves on providing excellent nutrition,” Jason said. “We can dole out the best feed to heifers since there is no milking herd to compete with, resulting in denser nutrition for calves.”

The Smiths work closely with their nutritionist, who visits every two weeks. She conducts body scoring which the Smiths then compare with weights they have collected and scores from the previous visit to determine possible ration changes.

“Knowing body scores helps for winter months and allows us to make necessary adjustments in rations,” Jason said. “We bump up energy in colder months for all age groups and monitor rations very closely. We like to make feeding adjustments sooner

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ConƟnued from PRAIRIE DAIRY | Page 7

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The youngest heifers reside on a bedded counter-slope which allows manure and urine to drain down away from where animals lay at Prairie Dairy nea rOakeld, Wisconsin. The counter-slope barn holds 220 head and houses animals 3-10 months of age. the wood mulch, calves stay cleaner, and the mulch lasts longer,” Jason said.

For several years, the Smiths have been shooting dry chopped grass into pens in the winter.

“The younger ones nestle into the grass, which holds in heat to keep calves warm,” Ed said.

The Smiths and Kollmanns take precautions to ensure heifers are ready to face the rigors of winter.

“We make sure all animals are bedded down nice and comfy, are dry and well-fed,” Jason said. “We also closely monitor ventilation. I’m really particular about the curtains and will even run out at night to adjust them, especially in winter months. This is a very important step, particularly for the 3- to 10-month-old barn. We want to keep the elements out while still making sure animals get enough air.”

The partners are big on visual inspection and keep close tabs on every heifer.

“I feed every morning, and if a heifer doesn’t get up to eat, we have to nd out why,” Jason said. “If someone seems off, we get her out and take her

temperature. Animals receive lots of human contact here. We’re very handson, and we’re very visual. You have to be when running this type of operation.”

Dusty, who is referred to as the heifer whisperer, said a heightened awareness of animals in the winter keeps heifers going strong throughout the cold weather.

“We check on the heifers a lot and give them plenty of attention,” Dusty said. “Clean drinking water is important, so making sure nothing is frozen and the waterers are open in winter is also critical.”

Prairie Dairy has been in the Smith family since 1898. Jason is the fth generation, and Ed’s 8-year-old grandson, Edison, who has expressed interest in farming, would be the sixth generation. Developing healthy, highquality animals is the mission of this custom heifer operation, which has openings for more heifers.

“We’re well-equipped to raise the heifers that farmers need,” Ed said.

“And we treat these heifers better than if they were our own.”

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Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020 • Page 9

Growing the future one day at a time Setting goals, measuring progress helps clear bottlenecks

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

Raising healthy calves is a cornerstone of any dairy operation.

Research has shown that the milk-fed stage of a calf’s life lays the foundation for her future production when she enters the milking herd.

In a webinar hosted last month by the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association, Dr. Kelly E. Reed, DVM, a consultant with Diamond V, talked about identifying the bottlenecks in calf-rearing programs that might be limiting a dairy farm from unlocking the fullest potential of their future milk producers.

“I get asked a lot what the best way to raise calves is,” Reed said. “There are lots of different ways to raise calves. The best answer is to nd out what works best for you, your team and your management system.”

Reed said there is great value in investing in the calves because of the impact it can have on the animal’s future productivity.

“Increased nutritional intake in the rst 56 days of life equals increased production of an average of 1,500 pounds of milk during the rst lactation,” Reed said. “After three lactations, that is an average of 6,000 more pounds produced per cow. That is a pretty signicant advantage when you are just looking at the nutrition in the rst 56 days.”

Setting goals for calves and measuring to ensure those goals are being met is an important part of having

a successful calf-raising program, according to Reed.

Reed expressed the importance of conducting a calf audit to evaluate whether or not there are systems in place to assure that calves are being raised to meet expectations and achieve the best health and performance possible.

“The goal is to identify the big bottlenecks in the system limiting the overall performance,” Reed said. “It is also important to remember that this is just a snapshot of what is happening, and that observations are only of one moment in one day. As long as there are humans involved, there will be lots of variables.”

A calf audit will help address what Reed calls critical control points to ensure proper protocols are in place and being complied with. Tools used to conduct a calf audit include a refractometer, a digital thermometer and a luminometer to measure ATP in the environment.

Colostrum management is one of the foundations of raising healthy calves.

“I think that farms that want to do a really good job with colostrum management and make it a priority do a really good job,” Reed said. “If you really make it a focal point and think through some of these concepts, you can really improve your calf care program.”

Proper harvesting of colostrum is an important factor in colostrum quality.

Reed advises that colostrum should be harvested as soon as possible after calving. She said as time passes, the cow will begin to reabsorb the IgG present in the colostrum. She also stresses the importance of using clean equipment to harvest the colostrum and to feed the calf.

Reed said the milk contact surface cleaning protocols in place for milking equipment can typically be the same

protocols used for cleaning calf feeding equipment. Reed recommends cleaning calf feeding equipment within two hours of use, beginning by rinsing equipment with lukewarm water, followed by soaking in hot water, greater than 140 degrees Fahrenheit, with a chlorinated alkaline detergent with a pH of 1112. Equipment should be scrubbed vigorously with a brush and rinsed with cold water, followed by a second rise with an acidic solution with a pH of 2-3.

The equipment should be allowed to dry thoroughly between uses.

Milk delivery and consistency is another key factor in raising calves.

“So many problems when people complain about bloat, digestive upset and diarrhea in young calves can be solved by getting the solids consistent, day in and day out,” Reed said. “We also want consistent temperature, volume and timing. They are like human babies.

They want the same thing, the same time, every day. Keep their lives boring.”

Reed said the ideal temperature to deliver milk to calves is from 95-100 degrees.

“There is a little bit of wiggle room, but if we get down to 90, it’s getting cold,” she said. “If we get up to 110, it’s starting to get too hot. I have actually seen calves that have scalded their abomasum and esophagus, drinking milk that is too hot.”

She said when mixing milk replacer, it is important to follow manufacture directions for the water temperature to mix with; it can vary between manufacturers. Reed said using the directed water temperature for mixing will help achieve the proper solids consistency.

She also recommends periodically testing well water to ensure water

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quality, both for mixing milk replacer and for offering fresh water to calves.

She reminds dairy producers to ensure calves have ample access to fresh water from day one.

Reed said it is vital calves are getting the appropriate number of calories, and that those calories are getting delivered to the calf. She said it is important to evaluate how many calories calves are consuming seasonally, noting the thermoneutral zone for calves is from 62 to 82 degrees.

Providing dry bedding year-round is another basic building block to successfully raising calves.

“If they are wet and muddy, their maintenance is going to go up, and so are our costs,” Reed said. “We are going to pay for it one way or another. We are either going to pay for it in nutrition, in performance or in bedding. Let’s just pay for it in bedding and do a good job for those calves.”

Using best protocols for environmental cleaning between calves is just as important as it is for cleaning feeding equipment. Reed said she prefers a low-pressure spray to clean hutches between calves rather than a high-pressure wash. High-pressure washing will aerosolize bacteria, making it airborne and possibly contaminating other surfaces and nearby calves. She recommends once-yearly deep cleaning of hutches with high-pressure instead.

Reed reminds dairy farmers it truly takes a village to raise healthy calves that will turn into highly productive members of the milking herd.

“Regularly evaluating your protocols, goals and measurements of those goals helps you to keep improving the calves you are raising,” Reed said.

Page 10 • Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020

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Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020 • Page 11

Not afraid of automation

Reins install calf feeders as third step in farm’s robotic path

By Krista Kuzma

krista.k@dairystar.com

LANESBORO, Minn. – The Reins are not afraid of automation. The installation of their automatic calf feeder – the third robotic system on their farm – is proof of that.

“Once you’ve already been around the Vector (automatic feeding system) and robotic milkers, it’s pretty simple,” Ben Rein said.

Rein and his wife, Amber, have been using an automatic feeder for their young calves since March on their 150-cow dairy near Lanesboro.

“It’s going really well,” Rein said. “It was pretty easy to get started with it. The calves learn right away.”

It has expanded their calf housing, allowing the Reins to raise their 90 replacement heifers each year Turn to REINS | Page 13

KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR

Ben and Amber Rein stand in the hoop shed where they installed an automaƟc calf feeder to feed the young calves on their 150-cow dairy near Lanesboro, Minnesota.

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Page 12 • Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020

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Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020 • Page 13

ConƟnued from REINS | Page 11

along with an additional 200 crossbred steer and heifers from their own herd and ones purchased from area dairy farms.

“That’s part of the reason we put in the automatic calf feeder – so we could increase the steers and heifers we nish each year,” Rein said.

An existing 36-by-85-foot hoop shed houses the setup, with room for 60 calves at one time. For better ventilation, the Reins added an air tube down the center of the barn with fans that run at all times. There is one central mixing unit with two stations – one for each of the two pens. Calves are split evenly amongst the pen in groups of 30. Newborn calves are moved to one of four individual pens for the rst 24 hours of life and given two meals of colostrum before being put into the group pen with the auto feeders. It takes about two days for calves to be fully trained to use the automated system.

“They seem to really love it,” Rein said. “They like the big pen. They play around with each other and get a lot more exercise. It works really well.”

From the time they are put on the feeder until 40 days old, calves drink up to 10 quarts of milk per day, which they drink during the ve times they are allowed to visit the feeder in a 24-hour period.

“They’ll drink all of it,” Rein said. “If they don’t, then we have to look (at the computer) and see if they’re sick. They get a lot of intake, and we see really

KRISTA KUZMA/DAIRY STAR

A calf enters a feeding staƟon to recieve milk from the automaƟc feeder on the Rein family’s dairy near Lanesboro, Minnesota. good growth on them.”

At 40 days old, calves are fed a gradually reduced amount of milk over the next 20 days until they are weaned at 60 days.

“They wean really well because of this,” Rein said. “We see hardly any stress on the calves when we wean them. The growth rates have gone really well.”

Throughout their 60 days on milk, the calves are given free choice water and starter

grain.

Prior to the automatic feeder, young calves were kept in individual pens in a different hoop shed on the other side of the dairy. As the main calf caretaker, Amber fed calves 5 quarts of milk split between a typical twice-a-day schedule.

“With 40 calves, that’s a lot of pails,” Rein said. “We were lling all the bottles and putting them in pails with hot water to keep the milk hot, and then we had to haul it to the calf barn.”

Now the Reins are doing a lot less lifting in their new daily routine.

By 7 a.m., Amber goes to the calf barn and checks the milk mixing unit to see which calves have not visited the feeder overnight. Then she will round up the two or three calves that still need to drink before starting to clean the inside and outside of both stations. In addition to the machine’s daily cleaning by Amber, the auto feeder self-cleans between each

calf with a sanitizing solution.

The last part of Amber’s morning routine is adding fresh straw to the pens and checking over the calves one more time.

Her only scheduled task for evening chores, which she does around 5 p.m., is checking which calves have not drunk milk since morning chores and leading them to the feeder.

“It frees up her evening a lot,” Rein said.

Chores that typically took up to two hours twice a day is now cut in half.

“I think that’s the biggest thing is that it saves a lot of labor,” Rein said.

Plus, the Reins like the exibility of their daily schedule.

“You can vary your time if you want,” Rein said. “If we want to check calves at 8 p.m. after a game, we can do that. We don’t have to be there to feed calves 12 hours apart.”

On top of that, the Reins like that their heifers and steers seem to have better growth rates in the new set up.

While the Reins still see scours in about 10% of the calves – about the same amount they saw when calves were housed in individual pens – they have eliminated most respiratory problems because of barn’s improved ventilation, Rein said. The family also feels the increased number of feedings per day gives the calves the boost needed to get them growing well.

Turn to REINS | Page 14

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Page 14 • Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020

ConƟnued from REINS | Page 13

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“When we get to the winter, we’re going to put calf coats on all the calves,” Rein said. “It seems like it should work really well in the winter because they get more intakes so they should have more energy for the cold weather.”

The new set up is part of the farm’s goal to be fully automated. The Reins installed two robotic milkers on their farm in 2014 and added an automatic feeding system for the milking cows in early 2019. Since then, the Reins added the automatic calf feeder and additional automated capabilities to feed the heifers. Once the dry cow barn they are currently building is complete, the Reins will be able to feed all animals on their dairy with a robot.

“That was my goal,” Rein said. “I just want to farm with family labor.”

Rein’s dad, Steve, helps the couple with farm responsibilities, mostly

eldwork. Their children – Steven, 22, Jaime, 20, Nora, 18, Kim, 16, and Rachel, 12 – help when they are able.

Steven works off the farm; Jaime and Nora are in college; and Kim and Rachel are involved in extracurriculars in their community’s school.

Over the past seven years, the Reins have enjoyed their journey toward full automation.

“When you put it in, don’t be worried if you have problems,” Rein said. “You just have to step back and think about it and try to x it. When you put automation in, you will have some problems.”

But the Reins have patiently worked through their automation problems and have learned to work with the technology to make it work for their farm rather than fear it.

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Page 16 • Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020

Consistency, cleanliness, communication Ocooch Dairy’s three C’s of calf raising

By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com

HILLSBORO, Wis. – When all is said and done, making sure the basics are covered has been the key to raising thriving calves at Ocooch Dairy of Vernon County near Hillsboro.

Ocooch Dairy is home to 900 cows and is operated by the Mlsna family. Family member Stacy Sosinsky works as the calf and heifer manager and is responsible for the well-being of replacement heifer and beef animals from birth until they are near calving. Sosinsky, who also works off the farm, works

closely with calf manager Stephanie Nustad and fulltime employee Jaime Tjoelker in keeping a close eye on the youngest members of the herd.

About three years ago, a calf facility was constructed at Ocooch Dairy, utilizing group housing and automated calf feeders for milk replacer. At any given time, as many as 170 calves may be housed in the barn.

“The decision to build a calf barn was primarily based on the weather and being more people-friendly,” Sosinsky said. “The calves were doing great out in the hutches, but it was hard on the people taking care of them.”

Transitioning from hutches to a facility did not change the amount of time and labor needed to raise calves, but it changed how that time and labor was structured.

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Calves stand to use an automaƟc calf brush at Ocooch Dairy near Hillsboro, Wisconsin. Calves at the dairy are raised on autofeeders in a cross-venƟlated calf barn. usually more difcult work,” Sosinsky said. “The calf barn and autofeeders are more management-heavy.

Raising calves, regardless of how you do it, takes a great deal of patience.”

Members of the Mlsna family toured eight calf facilities before determining how to best build their own. They decided on a cross-ventilated building, complete with curtains run on a thermostat to help regulate the temperature, humidity and airow. The barn is also equipped with manually controlled ceiling fans to assist in circulating air.

“We looked at positive-pressure systems in several buildings we visited, but it always seemed like the farmers were changing the system after it was built,” Sosinsky said. “And I couldn’t imagine keeping the tubes clean enough.”

Satised with the choice of ventilation, both Sosinsky and Nustad said the key to keeping their calves healthy rests in consistency and cleanliness.

The farm uses an all-in, all-out approach to grouping.

When the group is moved after weaning, the pen is deep-cleaned and scrubbed using a chlorinated alkaline foam followed by a chlorine dioxide spray.

Turn to OCOOCH DAIRY | Page 17

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DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

A statement created by both the owners of the dairy and its employees is wriƩen on the wall in calf barn to emphasize the traits they feel are important to the success of calf raising at Ocooch Dairy near Hillsboro, Wisconsin.

Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020 • Page 17

ConƟnued from OCOOCH DAIRY | Page 16 “With group housing, the key is to keep things as clean as possible, to minimize the pathogens the calves are exposed to,” Sosinsky said. “We are pretty open-minded and have tried a lot of different products, but nothing compares to getting back to the basics of cleanliness.”

While clean facilities are a building block to calf-rearing success, the pair is adamant that nothing trumps getting those calves off to the best possible start. Colostrum is tested and stored using the Perfect Udder system.

“Only a handful of us take care of testing the colostrum with a Brix Refractometer, and making the determination of if the colostrum is saved and how it will be used,” Sosinsky said. “That helps us keep it consistent.”

All calves are tube-fed a gallon of colostrum within the rst two hours following birth. Another half-gallon is fed between eight to 12 hours. Calves are also given an Inforce vaccine, Multimin and have their horns pasted at birth.

“We really want to get the TPR levels up,” Nustad said. “We have been seeing good results with that, having added the second feeding of colostrum earlier this year.”

Sosinsky agreed, noting their calves have faired the fall weather this year with fewer issues than previous years.

Calves spend the rst two weeks of life in individual Calf-Tel pens, and if they are doing well at 14 days of age, they are transitioned to their group pen with an automated feeder. Calves have fresh water and an 18% texturized calf starter available at all times.

“We work very closely with our nutritionist, and decided that with what the calves were getting from the milk

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Calves are raised in groups of 16 at Ocooch Dairy near Hillsboro, Wisconsin. Groups are kept together through the weaning process, before being combined with other groups post-weaning. replacer, we could switch from a 22% calf starter to an 18% starter,” Sosinsky said. “The calves have done really well with that, and it has been a cost-saving measure we were able to take advantage of.”

One advantage of having automated feeders is the data the machine provides about each calf’s consumption behavior; however, both Sosinsky and Nustad caution it is simply a tool.

“You really have to watch the calves and observe for abnormal behaviors,” Nustad said. “The computer can give

you clues, but it doesn’t tell you the whole story.”

Nustad said a great deal of her day involves visual observation of the calves in her care.

“No matter what I’m doing, I’m always watching them,” Nustad said.

“You learn what their normal behaviors are, and it makes it easier to catch when something is off. There is a ne line between having to treat and being able to use supportive therapies.”

With early detection, Sosinsky and Nustad prefer the use of supportive

therapies, such as probiotics, vitamins, electrolytes and anti-inammatories; as opposed to jumping right to treating calves with antibiotics. They both agreed that they are very conscious of their antibiotic use, knowing that overuse can end up setting calves back, also sharing that most of what they see in the calf barn are viral pathogens and for that supportive therapies are their best line of defense. In cases where antibiotics are necessary, supportive Turn to OCOOCH DAIRY | Page 18

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Fuller’s Milker Center, Inc. 423 U.S. 61 • Lancaster, WI 53813 (608) 723-4634

Gorter’s Clay & Dairy Equipment 1400- 7th St. SE • Pipestone, MN 56164 (507) 825-3271

Tri-County Dairy Supply, Inc.

4107 N US HWY 51 • Janesville. WI 53545 608-757-2697

Precision Dairy Equipment 24548 IA-13 • Elkader, IA 52043 (563) 245-2560

Lang’s Dairy Equipment, Inc.

Leedstone

1720 Freitag Dr. • Menomonie, WI 54751 (715) 231-8090

2337 Millennium Rd. • Decorah, IA 52101 United Suckow Dairy (563) 382-8722 12687 Hwy 18 & 52 • Postville, IA 52162 1467 West 5th Street • Winona, MN 55987 (563) 864-7417 (507) 452-5532 210 N. Industrial Pkwy • West Union, IA 52175 Leedstone (563) 422-5355 222 E Co Rd 173, Melrose, MN 56352 (320) 256-3303 24260 Cty. Rd. 27 • Plainview, MN 55964 (507) 534-3161

Pre-Book with your Dealer Today!

Page 18 • Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020

ConƟnued from OCOOCH DAIRY | Page 17

Calf Powder ATTENTION DAIRYMEN AND CALF RAISERS Calf raising can be fun times and also frustrating times and is one of the most important parts of a successful dairy operation. Those heifer calves are YOUR FUTURE!!!

And those bull calves are someone else’s future. So protect them with RECAL CALF POWDER!!!

RECAL CALF POWDER is a probiotic focused toward putting huge numbers of good bacteria into the digestive tract of that calf to overwhelm the bad bacteria. To produce high levels of vitamin B-12 naturally in the calf which in return boosts appetite, immune system, aids in reducing stress levels and boosts energy levels for a more energetic, healthier calf that wants to eat and perform. This leads to more fun times raising calves with less drug costs. Now RECAL Calf Powder is no magic powder – good management and protocols still have to be in place.

DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR

Ocooch Dairy’s calf management team – (from leŌ) Stephanie Nustad, on-site calf manager; Stacy Sosinsky, calf and heifer manager; and Jaime Tjoelker, fullƟme calf barn employee – have found that focusing on the basics has yielded good results when raising calves at Ocooch Dairy near Hillsboro, Wisconsin. therapies are still utilized to help give calves the immune boost they need to beat whatever bug is bringing them down.

Another cornerstone of successfully running an auto-feeder calf barn that the pair stresses is to know your machines well and have a good understanding of how they work to increase the awareness of when a problem might occur.

“When something isn’t right with the feeders, it creates a lot of anxiety,” Nustad said.

Sosinsky said when problems arise, you have to be prepared to push technicians to locate solutions that might not be readily available or obvious.

The nal building block that creates calfhood success at Ocooch Dairy is communication, emphasized

by Sosinsky and Nustad with their calfcare team, which includes ve part-time employees in addition to themselves and Tjoelker.

As a calf manager, Sosinsky stresses the importance of having written protocols available for staff to refer to, for areas ranging from calf health to machine operation and maintenance.

“Communicating expectations and protocols puts everyone on the same page,” Sosinsky said. “It doesn’t mean you will refer to them every day, but they are very grounding to have available.”

NEW

Deluxe Chute Jr. Stuffer

Advantages to feeding RECAL Calf Powder to Calves: • • • • • • • •

More aggressive calves Calves that want to eat Less scours and use of drugs Healthier calves Calves go to eating grain and drinking water sooner Earlier weaning Calves transition better at weaning Better growth

For more information contact:

RECAL Microbials, LLC

Jamie Troxel 330-601-2142 www.RECALmicrobials.com

130 bu. - $2,700

$4,479

Calf Hauler

Calf Chute

$1,249

$799

Spanier Welding and Metal Fabrication Paynesville, MN • 320-243-7552 www.spanierwelding.com

Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020 • Page 19

BUILT STRONGER. LASTS LONGER. Doda USA offers specialized equipment built stronger to execute your agricultural waste handling needs.

We approach our sales, installations and on-going maintenance plans with a hands-on approach, making us a trusted partner for your operation to produce.

> > > >

GREEN BEDDING MAKERS CHOPPER PUMPS PROP MIXERS SLUDGE THICKENERS

We welcome trade-ins. Trade in and trade up.

Ask us about our free 30-day equipment trials.

507.375.5577

dodausa.com

255 16th Street South, St. James, MN

Page 20 • Dairy Star Special Edition • Saturday, November 14, 2020

Thank you!

We want to thank our farmers, milk haulers, and employees for everything that you have done, and continue to do, for our country!

www.Bongards.com