Herd Management
Managing & Marketing Quality Holstein Steers Proceedings
A list of the breakout sessions discussing dairy beef, nutrition of wet calves, nutrition: growing and finishing, housing and management, feedlot nutritional management, breeding, genetics and grazing, markets and risk management, health and disease management, meat quality and industry perspective and implant strategies. The conference was help November 2, 2005.
Grazing and Organic
Ever thought about going organic or moving to a grass-fed operation? Currently on a grazing system in need of fine tuning? This page contains videos on raising heifers on pasture and a series on beginning grazing to help improve operations.
Automatic Calf Feeder Field Day
Join us for a first-hand look at how fellow dairy farmers are managing pre-weaned calves using technology. These include automatic calf feeders, pasteurizers, and milk cooling systems. Basic sanitation, equipment hygiene, housing and ventilation will be discussed.
Integrated Crop Management
I-29 Moo University Dairy Beef Short Course Tour
The I-29 Moo University will host its Dairy Beef Short Course Tour on Tuesday, March 27. The tour is an educational pre-event associated with the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls, and all dairy beef and milk producers plus industry and students are encouraged to attend. The tour includes stops at two feedlots and one auction facility that deal with dairy steers. The $30 registration includes noon meal, educational materials and bus transportation.
The bus will load at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls (1201 N. West Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104) and leave by 8:15 am. The first stop will be Binford Farms Feedlot near LuVerne, Minnesota. Grant and Rebecca plus Eric and Shari Binford have seven children between the two families ranging in ages from 15 to 4 years of age that they hope will become the next generation in agriculture. Binford Farms is a farmer feeder operation with management divided between Grant managing the cattle feeding and Eric managing the farming and trucking aspects of the business. The operation has primarily fed Holsteins since 2002 from 350 pounds to finish with some Holstein calves in the mix.
Lunch will be provided at the Tristate Livestock Auction Café. Tri-State Livestock in Sioux Center is a diversified auction market selling all classes of livestock and specializing in dairy for over 80 years. Co-owners are Mike and Roger Koedam, Duane Rus plus Jason Spykerboer. The barn is affiliated with Sheldon Livestock and Sioux Falls Regional Livestock. Mike and Rus will outline what they need in the ring to get “top-dollar” for producers selling dairy beef.
The third stop will be Rock River Feeders north of Sioux Center, Iowa. Kent and Sylvia Pruismann, along with other family members, have taken great care to develop the feedlot with special attention to animal well-being, environmental sustainability and the incorporation of new technologies. The feedlot currently houses 3500 head of cattle in outside yards meeting all federal and state manure management regulations. Kent is a member of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Board, so it is no surprise that Beef Quality Assurance is the normal mode of daily operation. All cattle are tagged upon arrival with an electronic identification tag, which is used to track animal origin, health and movement. Placement weight of incoming calves averages 270 pounds. The feedlot rations are a TMR consisting of earlage, corn, wet distillers grains and mineral supplementation. They market their dairy steers on a high energy grid to JBS in Wisconsin.
The tour will return to the Denny Sanford Premier Center at 4:30 p.m.
Registration by March 23 will guarantee a spot on the bus. Registrations with digital payment should be made at iGrow.org.
The I-29 Moo University is a consortium of Extension Dairy Specialists from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Now in its 13th year, the consortium provides resources and education to enhance a sustainable dairy community along the I-29 corridor by focusing on: best management practices, utilization of research-based expertise and resources, and ag-vocating the benefits of a vibrant dairy community. For more information on the dairy beef tour or other I-29 Moo University programs contact your state Extension Dairy Specialist. In Northwest Iowa, contact Fred M. Hall at 712.737.4230 or email at fredhall@iastate.edu.
Dairy Short Course Series
The Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation, Iowa State Extension and Outreach and Northeast Iowa Community College will be hosting a series of applied workshops for dairy producers, employees and students. The workshops will be held at Iowa’s Dairy Center south of Calmar and will feature a mixture of classroom and hands-on learning on the dairy farm. Mark your calendar for the following dates and workshops:
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April 5-6, 2018: Dairy Management Software
This course will cover the use of dairy management software, including Dairy Comp 305 and PC Dart, to successfully manage data on a dairy farm. Attendees will utilize software throughout the course to work through case studies to learn how to effectively interpret data and apply it to a working dairy farm.
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April 18-19, 2018: Seven Habits of Highly Successful Feeders
Learn principles of nutrition and impacts of nutrition on milk production and composition. These principles will be put into practice to develop good habits of proper TMR mixing and feed management to ensure cows are being fed to reach optimal production. This hands-on course will teach nutritional management from the feed center to the feed bunk.
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April 25-26, 2018: It’s Transition Time
The transition period is one of the most critical times in a dairy cow’s life. From barn layout to metabolic diseases, learn how to manage transition cows to ensure cow health, milk quality and reproduction.
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May 1-2, 2018: Calmar Calf College
Help calves reach their full potential through various management practices. Students will gain hands-on experience with calf handling, nutrition, sanitation and colostrum management.
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May 7-8, 2018: Master Hoof Care Workshop
The Master Hoof Care Program is a hands-on training program for instruction in hoof care and trimming. Trimming techniques are designed to correct claw horn overgrowth without over-trimming, balance weight bearing within and between the claws of each foot, and finally, create a stable weight bearing surface on all claws. The lab will consist of instruction on knife sharpening techniques, the treatment of lameness disorders including the proper application of foot blocks for relief of weight bearing in diseased or injured claws and practice trimming with knives and grinders.
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May 9-11, 2018: Dairy Robotics
Dairy Robotics is an introduction to robotic technology. This course explores North American dairy robotic systems focusing on nutrition, freestall design and the management of dairy cows milked with robots. Additionally, this course will utilize the enormous amount of data gathered on each cow by the robots to develop strategies to enhance robot efficiency through milking speed, milk quality and reduced box time among other techniques.
Iowa-Wisconsin Silage Conference
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will help host the Iowa-Wisconsin Silage Conference on June 21 in Dubuque.
The conference will feature presentations from both academic and industry experts who will speak on a wide variety of topics related to growing and using quality silage. ISU Extension and Outreach specialists Hugo Ramirez, Denise Schwab and Garland Dahlke will present during the course of the day-long conference.
Online registration is available for the conference. Cost for the event is $50 if registering prior to midnight on June 14, and $75 after that date. Registration includes lunch and refreshment breaks.
The conference begins on June 21 with check-in and refreshments at 8:30 a.m., followed by the welcome at 9:30 a.m. It will take place at the Best Western Plus Dubuque Hotel and Conference Center (3100 Dodge Street, Dubuque).
Group sessions will cover quality corn silage before, during and after harvest, characteristics of corn varieties for silage, molds and mycotoxins in silage and pricing corn silage. There will be concurrent sessions in the afternoon, with participants being able to choose between four distinct 30-minute conversations.
The conference will conclude with presentations on machinery efficiency and corn silage safety before adjourning at 3:30 p.m.
For assistance with registration, receipts, cancellation or questions contact Program Services at 515-294-6429 or anr@iastate.edu.
2018 NW Iowa Corn Silage Clinic
Clinic To Help NW Iowa Livestock Producers Improve Corn Silage Quality
Northwest Iowa beef and dairy producers depend on quality corn silage to build profitable rations. To help them accomplish this, the Iowa Beef Center and Iowa Extension Dairy Team are hosting the NW IA Corn Silage Clinic on August 28 at the Northwest Iowa Research and Demonstration Farm in Sutherland.
“The NW Iowa Corn Silage Clinic will feature top experts from the upper Midwest with the most current information on topics that affect corn silage and earlage quality and economics” notes ISU Extension Dairy Field Specialist Fred M. Hall. Presentations will begin promptly at 9 am and will break at 12 noon for lunch. The program will adjourn by 3:30. Each expert will be available to answer questions.
Topics and speakers include:
- Agronomic practices impacting corn silage digestion- Dr. Fred Owens, feedlot nutrition specialist.
- Silage and kernel processing equipment- Aaron Ostrander, John Deere silage specialist.
- Silage additives and inoculants- Dr. Scott Dennis, Pioneer.
- Evaluating corn silage and earlage: What’s typical, Dr. Dan Loy, ISU Beef Center director.
- Quality corn silage going in and coming out, Dr. Hugo Ramirez, ISU dairy specialist.
- Pricing corn silage, Dr. William Edwards, retired ISU ag economist.
In addition, there will be two concurrent session featuring feeding corn products to the beef animal with Owens and feeding corn products to the dairy cow with Ramirez.
Producers will also be able to walk through corn silage variety plots and talk with seed company technicians. “In addition, there is a trade show which will allow producers to compare equipment and products used in putting up quality silage,” says ISU Extension Beef Field Specialist Beth Doran.
Registration is $25, with payment at the door. Pre-registration is required for the meal count and can be made by calling the Sioux County Extension office at 712.737.4230.
For more information, contact ISUEO Beef Field Specialist Beth Doran or ISUEO Dairy Field Specialist Fred M. Hall. Both can be reached at 712.737.4230 in the Sioux County Extension office.
"Treat Me Right" - Summer Management Tour
Two top producers will share their cattle handling strategies in their systems during the 2018 Summer I-29 Moo University Dairy Tour on August 3. Topics will include euthanasia, low-stress handling, non-ambulatory animal handling, biosecurity planning and newborn calf care.
Agenda:
9:30/9:45 - Registration & load bus at Friendly's Fuel Stop, 47159 Co. Hwy 114, Baltic, SD, Exit 94
10:00 - Arrive at Boadwine Dairy, Baltic, SD
12:15 - Lunch and then leave Boadwine Dairy
1:30 - Arrive at Crosswinds Jersey's, Elkton, SD
3:30 - Leave Crosswind Jersey's
4:15 - Return to Friendly's Fuel Stop
Registration is $25. Groups of three or more from the same operation receive 30% discount. Deadline is Friday, July 27. More info, in Iowa call 712.737.4230
Register on-line at www.igrow/edu/livestock/dairy