Colostrum has been proven to be one of the best resources a dairy producer can provide for their future herd. By feeding one gallon of high-quality colostrum within one hour of birth, a calf can receive the nutrients and immunoglobulins it needs to get off to a healthy start. Yet many times this precious fluid is exposed to a number of bacteria before it reaches the calf, and instead of boosting a calf’s immune system, the antibodies are immediately needed to fight off diseases introduced in the same feeding.

Standards and benchmarks have been of interest to producers for many years. Whether financial, production-based, health-related or otherwise, our human nature is to always want to know “how we stack up,” especially with others in the same business. Last fall, the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association (DCHA) released its own set of benchmarks for calf and heifer nutrition after more than a year of comprehensive input, discussion, meetings and literature reviews by a cross-section of industry groups. DCHA is calling their benchmarks Gold Standards.

Liquid manure is a valuable source of nutrients and organic matter for crop production and may be applied by a variety of methods including irrigation, surface spreading and shallow subsurface injection. With a low nutrient concentration, liquid animal manure may be applied at relatively high volumes, but it is generally recommended that it not be applied at rates that exceed the soil infiltration rate, nor exceed the amount needed to bring the soil to field water-holding capacity. Liquid manure discharges from agricultural drains have been reported in soils with subsurface (tile) drainage due to macropore flow.

The economic situation in 2009 affected all producers, but some suffered more than others. Negative cash flows were experienced during most of the year and a severe constriction of ag credit limited a dairy’s ability to obtain extra cash.