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What do I need to do to control worker compensation costs?

Handle every new work injury immediately

1. Immediate medical attention
Take the employee to your designated health provider. Don’t send them; drive them there personally and wait for them. Ask about the injury and planned treatment right then.

It is well-known that acquiring and absorbing adequate amounts of colostral immunoglobulins are essential to the health of the neonate, since calves are born almost void of any circulating antibodies. Colostrum is defined as the first milk harvested from the cow immediately after calving.

Physiology of the preruminant calf
Water makes up 85.8 percent of the bodyweight (BW) of a neonatal calf. Prior to birth, the developing fetus is surrounded by amniotic fluid that is 92 percent water. In the uterus, the developing calf is supplied with water by diffusion from maternal plasma, and at birth the calf is at its greatest water content, having developed in a water-based media where water has borne the nutrients required to allow rapid growth and development.

A lot of work and care is required to develop newborn calves into productive, lactating cows. When managed properly, replacement heifers should grow at a rate that allows them to calve at 24 months of age or less. However, a recent report indicated the average age of Holsteins at first calving was 26.9 months, so there are opportunities for improvement. Also, the mortality rate on many farms is higher than desired, reducing the number of potential replacement heifers.

The custom heifer industry in the United States continues to grow and develop. An understanding of the importance of a written contract and its components is essential for custom heifer growers and for the dairy producers planning to employ these services.

During times of low milk prices, it is important to analyze the price of the feedstuffs you are using and fine-tune the management of various aspects of the dairy. What is the level of milk production on the dairy? Use or start a spreadsheet to monitor daily herd milk production. On a daily basis, keep track of the number of fresh cows, cows dried, cows died and cows beefed. Each month, weigh the cow’s milk. By tracking this information, you will be able to know your baseline for production and how it changes day to day according to feeding, environment or management changes.