New approaches to calf nutrition

Aug 09, 2023

By Lilian Schaer for Livestock Research Innovation Corporation

There is a strong relationship between health and growth in a calf’s early life and that animal’s total lifetime production. This means what happens to a calf in its first few hours and days is extremely critical, particularly what it is fed.

According to Dr. Michael Steele, a professor in the University of Guelph’s Department of Animal Biosciences, what we’ve known to date about what, how much and when to feed calves is changing and opens new opportunities for producers to impact the long-term health, growth and productivity of their animals.

“You can mold the calf when it is born; we call this developmental plasticity, which is strong early in life and goes down as time goes on,” Steele explained during a presentation at the most recent Healthy Calf Conference, where he focused his remarks on evolving perspectives around colostrum and weaning.

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Video: Season 7, Episode 1: Managing Risk and Seeing Opportunities in U.S. Pork Production

Today’s episode features three guests discussing the similarities and differences between pork production in the United States and Brazil, along with strategies for managing risk in today’s industry while recognizing and acting on opportunities. First, Dr. Anne Caroline de Lara, executive manager of live pig production at Seara Alimentos, a JBS company in Brazil, is joined by Dr. Matthew Turner, head of operations for JBS Live Pork. Together, they discuss how labor, climate and ventilation challenges vary between Brazil and the United States, while underscoring their shared commitment to raising healthy pigs. They also point to lessons producers in both countries can take from one another’s systems and on-farm experiences. Then, Brady Reicks, risk manager at Reicks View Farms, shares his perspective on risk management, drawing from his background in markets and his transition into farming. He discusses how protecting margins varies by operation and offers practical approaches producers can use to make marketing and business decisions with greater confidence rather than hesitation.

Both conversations were recorded at recent industry events focused on swine livability, including the International Conference on Pig Livability and Iowa Swine Day.