Minnesota/Wisconsin Engineering Notes

February 2004 Postharvest and Alternative Energy Info on Web Your Farm Doesn’t Have to Smell that Bad Science-based Information on Manure Management Issues Competitive Milking? Bedded Pack Housing For Dairy Cows Livestock Ventilation Design—Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality Concerns EDEN – Extension Disaster Education Network Workshops on Food System Terrorist Threats Irrigated Acres Update New Book and Companion CD Focus on Dairy Replacements Resources Calendar

New Book and Companion CD Focus on Dairy Replacements Raising Dairy Replacements, a new publication from MidWest Plan Service (MWPS), contains educational information and specific recommendations for the dairy industry regarding calf and heifer nutrition, health, reproduction, housing, and management. The publication provides an overview of current research-based management practices. It is designed to provide dairy industry educators, consultants, producers, and heifer growers with a technical reference to improve management of dairy calves and heifers. Patrick Hoffman, a professor in the Dairy Science Department at the University of Wisconsin, wrote or co-wrote several of the book’s chapters and served as technical editor and project coordinator for the team that developed the publication. Other authors are Richard Wallace, University of Illinois; Howard Tyler, Larry Tranel, and Leo Timms, Iowa State University; Sandra Godden, and Hugh Chester-Jones, the University of Minnesota; and Larry Baumann, David Kammel, Brian Holmes, Paul Fricke, and Pamela Ruegg, the University of Wisconsin. The four-color publication contains more than 80 photos and other graphic images along with 60 tables to help illustrate and clarify technical concepts. Hoffman says the group wanted to produce “a comprehensive publication and decision aid for the dairy industry.” The photos, charts, and graphs, he says, help to make the book more readable and a more useful educational resource. A companion CD contains an electronic version of the book plus supplemental photos, charts, and graphs. The electronic book has been designed so that educators can excerpt material from it to develop presentations based on the publication. Special markers in the text of the book direct readers to the CD for additional information about certain topics. The CD also contains software from ProfitSource, a Wisconsin company specializing in developing computer-based management tools for the dairy industry. The software, called Heifer Suite, can be downloaded from the CD and installed on the user’s computer. Among the programs in the suite are Ration Cost Analyzer, Heifer ProQWIK Chart, and Raising Cost Evaluator. Ration Cost Analyzer calculates the cost and nutrient content of replacement heifer diets. Heifer ProQWIK Chart compares heifer growth with industry standards and can compare growth rate within a pen and under different management variables. Raising Cost Evaluator calculates the cost of raising calves or heifers and can be used when an individual cost-of-production analysis is desired. In discussing this unique combination of text and software, Hoffman says, “The intent of the new Raising Dairy Replacements publication was to place as much technical information as possible in a single reference source.” This publication is an adaptation of the 1991 edition of Raising Dairy Replacements; it was sponsored in part by gifts from Alpharma and ProfitSource and by a grant from the USDA. The book and the CD are available from MWPS and can be purchased separately. For ordering information see Resources.

The information given in this publication is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement is implied.