Through February, March and April St Boniface Farm Vets are running a series of meetings addressing cattle fertility and healthy calf production. The series begins with calf rearing and the promotion of rapid growth to produce an efficient and healthy heifer. Trouw Nutrition are joining the St Boniface Farm Vets team and Harpers Feeds to present cutting edge research and practical advice that can be applied in your calf rearing programme.
Click the link to view the agenda and read more about our Calf Meeting Sessions on
5th February (Morchard Bishop) and 21st February (Holsworthy).
Trouw Nutrition have brought together their expertise in calf nutrition, with a forward-thinking approach to dairy cow performance in their LifeStart project. Why? Because on a global level it is calculated that the productivity of farm animals is, on average, 30-40% below their genetic potential due to suboptimal conditions and health status.
The LifeStart project is Trouw Nutrition’s science-based approach to calf and heifer rearing. It is designed to help farmers optimise the natural growth mechanisms inherent in neonatal calves. Increased understanding of how body composition and development is affected by early life nutrient supply leads the way to improve their robustness and productivity, unlocking their full genetic potential.
The Trouw Nutrition team is looking at heifers over their entire lifetime, focusing on a range of production parameters. The aim is to understand how calf nutrition can influence the ability of heifers to last longer in the herd, providing a better return on the cost of rearing replacements and helping reduce overall costs of production.
The LifeStart programme combines advice on management protocols with a new approach to the formulation of calf milk replacers which together can make full use of the potential the calf has, nurturing them so they achieve higher growth rates in a healthy way.
Overall, the research is indicating that the industry may need to rethink the objectives of calf rearing to ensure the end goals are longevity and increased resilience as a productive dairy cow rather than short term feed efficiency. In this way we can help unlock the genetic potential leading to a more robust and sustainable, higher welfare dairy farming system.
To hear more about the programme, or to book a place, please call St Boniface Farm Vets on 01363 772860 or follow us on Facebook /stbonifacefarmvets to keep up to date with the latest developments.
