Did you miss our latest webinar? Or just fancy watching it again?
Either way, the recording of our ‘Feed For Future’ webinar, which took place on Thursday 22st October 2021, is now available for you to watch below.
The 90-minute session, created with the dairy farming community in mind, takes a look at feeding for growth through effective calf nutrition as well as touching on the benefits of computerised feeding and practical tips on improving the rearing environment. All curated with input from our expert speakers - Joshua Hirneiss, Sales Manager at Urban Calf Feeders, Dr Jessica Cooke, R&D Manager at Volac and Jamie Robertson, Research Scientist and Calf Housing Specialist.
More on our speakers…
Joshua Hirneiss, Sales Manager, Urban Calf Feeders
Joshua Hirneiss has worked as a Sales Manager with Urban for over 8 years. During his segment, he highlighted how calf nutrition and health can be improved by automatic feeding, as well as covering off the labour-saving benefits of a computerised approach for dairy farmers.
Dr Jessica Cooke, R&D Manager, Volac
Jessica has been with Volac for over 11 years, starting out as a Young Animal Technical Specialist before progressing into research and development. In her role as Research and Development Manager she is responsible for the young animal research and development within the animal nutrition team.
During our event, she talked about how to maximise calf nutrition efficiency during the crucial pre-weaned period.
Jamie Robertson, Research Scientist and Calf Housing Specialist
Jamie Robertson offered us some valuable insight into how dairy farmers can assess calf buildings from a shelter and hygiene perspective, in order to make improvements to the calf-rearing environment and improve the health and profitability of the herd.
Tip to take home…
The key take-home from Volac’s Dr Jessica Cooke was the need to take advantage of high feed conversion efficiency in the first two months of life, in order to maximise growth. She explains: “As an animal gets older, the same amount of feed going in will result in less growth. For the first two months of life, calf feed conversion efficiency is up at 50% but by weaning this will drop to below 36% and at breeding will be less than 10%.”
She goes on to say: “Feeding more milk from a few days of age could maximise feed efficiency, prevent early weight loss and maximise early growth potential. Calves use their feed for maintenance, to keep warm and fight disease, with the energy left over for growth.”
Watch our webinar to see Jessica provide further insight on the immune response, recommended milk allowance and the challenges faced in the winter months.
Thank you!
Thanks to everyone who joined us and got involved live during the webinar. Be sure to share your thoughts on the topics discussed throughout this webinar by reaching out to us on Twitter and Facebook.
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Published on: 17 November 2021
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