Successful colostrum management requires careful attention to cleanliness. Colostrum, while it is still in a healthy cow, should have a bacteria count of essentially zero. However, by the time it gets into the calf, bacteria counts are often very high.

Dairy herd management is very data-driven, with exceptional progress made in the use of data from areas such as feeding, parlor operation, milk production and herd health to make timely decisions influencing dairy profitability.