September, 2003

Teresa Callender is giving daughters Kristina, middle, and Kelly an early start in the family dairy business.

Mothering Skills Produce
Quality Calves

A nutrition program from Southern States is also a key part of the formula.

As a veteran feed sales and technical representative for Southern States, Harry Walker has been involved in many innovations in animal nutrition. But none have excited him more than Cow's Match®, a new approach to dairy-calf nutrition.

That enthusiasm is shared by Charlotte Myers and Teresa Callender, a mother/daughter team in charge of the calf-raising enterprise on Walkup Holsteins near Harrisonburg, Va. They, along with husbands Dan Myers and Donald Callender, work hard to maintain and improve the quality standards set by six generations of Myerses on the family farm and dairy.

Those generations have built a stellar reputation as a quality producer of registered Holsteins. However, most of the heifers are kept as replacements for the milking herd. Charlotte and Teresa work hard to maintain and improve calf quality. A seventh generation--Teresa's daughters, eight-year-old Kristina and five-year-old Kelly--eagerly provides spirited help for their mother and grandmother.

"We are always looking for better ways of doing things," Teresa says. "That's why we were excited to learn about the Cow's Match nutrition program. Harry recommended that we try it, so we asked about it at Rockingham Cooperative [their Southern States retailer in Harrisonburg]. We trust Harry's advice."

Walker explains that the Cow's Match Intensive Feeding and Management System is a nutritional calf-raising program developed by Land O' Lakes. Southern States is the exclusive marketer in the co-op's territory.

"Research shows that calves raised on intensive feeding systems need 28% protein for peak frame and lean-tissue development," Walker explains. "Cow's Match helps heifers meet their peak growth rate."

As part of a highly fortified calf feeding and management program, Cow's Match milk replacer helps calves get the right start to reach their genetic potential for growth. Multistudy research shows that, compared to calves fed a traditional milk replacer program, calves on Cow's Match were 34 pounds heavier at weaning and reached 400 pounds 25 days sooner.

"We like big cows," Teresa says. "We're a year away from milking the first heifers in the parlor, but this program makes a difference in calf performance."

Under the program, Teresa and Charlotte routinely move calves from bottle to bucket after three days of bottle-fed colostrum. "We handle each calf on a case-by-case basis," Charlotte points out. "Calves start with 2 quarts of Cow's Match a day and gradually increase to 31û2 quarts daily before weaning at eight weeks. Intensity Calf Starter™ is fed during this time and is recommended to be continued until 12 weeks of age.

Besides the physical appearance and faster weight gain, Charlotte is impressed with calf health. "Improved calf health continues as we move calves though the group barn and into the heifer barn," she notes.

Charlotte and Teresa agree that Cow's Match is laying the foundation for continuing improvements in the milking herd. That's an investment that should reap dividends for future generations of family members.