Matt Lippert discusses many details on how best to economically raise sound animals that will be useful for a dairy herd.
Source: Dairy Herd Management, August 8, 2017.
One of the best ways to trim cost is to stop raising excess heifers, says Lippert. He references evidence to avoid cutting corners on young calves. They need colostrum within minutes to very few hours after birth. The colostrum should be evaluated to be high in immunoglobulins.