DAIRY NEWS – Top tier calf care on today’s dairy farms requires the best teams, facilities and management practices. The 2022 Calf Care Connection® workshops presented by Professional Dairy Producers® (PDPW) will feature in-depth, hands-on training sessions in all three areas, along with dairy farm tours each day. The workshops will be presented in English with simultaneous Spanish translation and have been approved for continuing education credits through Dairy AdvanCE (DACE) and by the American Registry of Professional Scientists (ARPAS).
“We’ve always provided multiple locations for Calf Care Connection programs, and this year we’re holding all three repeating sessions at working dairy farms,” said Cassandra Strupp, PDPW program manager. “We’re excited about world-class training right on site at working calf care facilities to share ideas and strategies.”
Calf care managers, calf feeders and team members, along with nutritionists, veterinarians and industry professionals will benefit from attending the workshops. The program will feature training to help build strong teams that communicate well, hands-on sessions highlighting practical tips that can have an immediate impact on one’s dairy, and the opportunity to see another dairy farm’s calf facilities and glean ideas from other calf care teams, veterinarians and nutritionists.
Each workshop will start with registration at 8:30 a.m. and conclude at 4:30 p.m. on the following days:
- Tuesday, Oct. 25, Dutch Dairy, LLC, Thorp, Wis.
- Wednesday, Oct. 26, Wagner Farms, Cecil, Wis.
- Thursday, Oct. 27, Nehls Bro Farm, Juneau, Wis.
Workshop presenters include Courtney Halbach, outreach specialist for The Dairyland Initiative at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Kendra Wells, DVM, Valley Vets, and Liz Griffith, market development and human resource consultant at Encore Consultants. Each workshop’s dairy farm host will also provide a facility tour and participate in a discussion session.
Here’s a closer look at the sessions:
- Learning from Abbott and Costello. Griffith will share effective strategies to make sure your entire team is on the same page and communicating clearly, focusing on giving instruction, taking feedback and growing an effective team. Leveraging strengths will bring out everyone’s best and ensure the top-notch care that calves need.
- Ventilation: Take a Breather. Halbach’s breakout session will assess calf barn ventilation systems and help attendees understand the difference between proper and problematic air flow. You’ll take away practical insights on making improvements, taking into consideration your barn’s stocking density, resting space and capacity for air exchange.
- Roll up your Sleeves for Calf Diagnostics. Dr. Wells will lead a hands-on clinic using the latest techniques for diagnosing and verifying diseases. She’ll walk you through on-farm tools including lab analyses, ultrasound options and visual cues.
- Behind-the-Scenes Tour. Each host dairy’s calf manager will lead a facility tour and share their tips and strategies for calf care, as well as what they like best – and least – about their facilities.
Learn more about Calf Care Connection and register your team by visiting www.pdpw.org or contacting PDPW at 800-947-7379. Follow along digitally in advance of and during the event by following @dairyPDPW and using #CCC2022 and #mypdpw on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
In addition to the continuing education units offered by DACE and ARPAS, Calf Care Connection is an approved Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) training.
Professional Dairy Producers (PDPW) is the nation’s largest dairy producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
