Over the last 10 years, the dairy industry has shown an increased interest in early life feeding programs for calves, spurred in part by several studies and meta-analyses illustrating the potential effect of greater pre-weaning average daily gain on future milk production.

Raising replacement heifers is the second-greatest cost on a dairy farm, and these animals will dictate the future success of the enterprise. To ensure future productive success, many considerations should be evaluated in terms of the liquid diet fed to young pre-weaned calves, especially when the liquid diet consists of whole or waste milk.

Jerseys are the fastest growing population among dairy breeds, and it’s no surprise the industry is hungry for more data on how to better feed and manage them. With respect to feeding Jersey calves, there is still limited information available on nutritional strategies in the first four months of life.

Raising replacement heifers is the second-highest cost to a dairy enterprise, making up nearly 20 percent of production costs. More than 15 percent of that total cost is incurred during the first two months of life, when milk replacer makes up a large portion of nutrient intake.

Have you ever wondered how valuable feeding a high-quality feed was on calf performance and the impact on your cost of production? We assembled a controlled research study to address this practical topic that was recently published in the Journal of Dairy Science.

In our previous article, “Precision nutrition for calves: Moving beyond crude protein concentration in milk replacer,” we presented substantial evidence for utilizing synthetic amino acids to better supply building blocks for growth and reduce costs associated with overfeeding protein.

In the current economic climate, dairy farmers are looking to increase efficiency across their business and reduce costs. Although it is viewed as a small portion of the dairy enterprise, nearly 20 percent of the production costs incurred on a dairy are attributed to raising replacement heifers.