This dairy newsletter will be brief as we want to alert you to two additional dairy webinars that will be held in the next month.

Webinar 1: Managing the Dairy Replacement Herd

“Managing the Dairy Replacement Herd” webinar is designed to address the importance and renewed interest in heifer management.  This heightened awareness is due to higher costs of raising heifers, the increased demand for higher milk production in younger cows, and the need to improve dairy cow longevity resulting in greater total productive life.  The webinar will discuss the importance of quantity, quality and timing of colostrum intake, acquiring and monitoring suggested heifer growth rates, review of production costs, and improving the health and productivity of the replacement as a dairy cow. The profitability of dairy replacements can be significantly credited to the growth and health conditions in their first 22 to 24 months of life. The 40 minute webinar presentation will be conducted by Dave Fischer, Mike Hutjens and Dick Wallace, U of I Extension Dairy specialists. 

Title:  Managing the Dairy Replacement Herd

Date: Wednesday April 8, 2009

Time:  12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CDT

Register at:  http://tinyurl.com/DairyReplacement

Webinar 2:  Strategies for Cull Cow Management:  Reducing your Risk of Antibiotic Residues.

The third University of Illinois Dairy Webinar is scheduled for May 1st from noon to 1 pm CDT. "Strategies for Cull Cow Management: Reducing Your Risk of Antibiotic Residues” is designed to address current issues in cull cow management. The heightened awareness of animal welfare issues with cows sent to slaughter and the potential for antibiotic residues in cull cows is driving this webinar. Following the National Milk Producer's Federation Top 10 Considerations for Culling and Transporting Dairy Animals to a Packing or Processing Facility will be discussed. Evaluating options for on-farm feeding of non-lactating market cows will be presented. The 40 minute webinar presentation will be conducted by Dick Wallace, Dave Fischer and Mike Hutjens, U of I Extension Dairy specialists.

Date:  Friday, May 1, 2009

Time:  12:00 PM – 1:00 pm

Register at: http://tinyurl.com/CullCowMgmt