More than 215 dairy producers from across the U.S. gathered April 8-10 in Gray Summit, Missouri, for the Calf and Heifer VIP program, hosted by Purina Animal Nutrition. This year’s attendees represented 145 dairy farms and more than 78,000 calves and heifers.
Attendees engaged in active discussions on respiratory health, preventative practices for scours, colostrum replacements, calf starter management, rumen development, ventilation and fly control technologies.Four dairy producers shared experiences and successes they have had utilizing PAN calf and heifer technologies. Insights ranged from feeding calves to a higher plane of nutrition and the resulting calf health and improved growth, automated calf feeding to reach growth goals and three times per day feeding. The panel consisted of Beth White, Elkendale Farms in Genoa, New York; Michele Rohe, Rohe Dairy, LLC in St. Rosa, Mininesota; Nic Schoenberger, Greendale Dairy in Kiel, Wisconsin; and Steve Adams, Vail Brothers Dairy in Vernon, New York.
“The goal of the calf and heifer VIPs is to offer our attendees useful and timely information that they can take home to make their operations more efficient and profitable,” says Bart Wolkerstorfer, marketing manager.A tour of the recently renovated PAN Center rounded out this year’s event. The center in rural Missouri is the heart of the company and the backdrop for the company’s extensive nutrition research. The research center opened in 1926 and is a working farm with almost 1,200 acres and 3,000 animals making it a unique facility within the feed industry.PD—From Purina Animal Health news release
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Photo courtesy of Purina Animal Health.
