University of Missouri Extension dairy specialists and MFA dairy consultants are helping producers raise profitable heifers. Using heifer statistics, producers are finding what works and what doesn't. A grower/developer ration fits nicely.

A dairy heifer that freshens for the first time at 24 months already has a $200 edge on one that calves for the first time at 28 months. "Considering delayed milk production and extra feed, a dairyman loses at least $1.50 for each day past 24 months that a heifer doesn't calve," said Dr. Barry Steevens, Extension dairy specialist at the University of Missouri.

Steevens notes that cows in a herd with a 20,000-pound average production must peak at 95 to 100 pounds of milk per day.

"First-calf heifers with this potential will need to be at 75 pounds or more per day," he explained. "Plus, those heifers still need to grow, put on body weight and breed back with their next calves. It's a challenge--for all producers."

Eight dairy producers in west central Missouri are learning just how much of a challenge it is. They are taking part in a dairy heifer development project coordinated by Roger Bennett, UMC Extension dairy specialist at Independence. Dr. David Hardin and Dr. Richard Randle, UMC Commercial Agriculture veterinarians, are also working on the project.

The main objective is to help producers have quality heifers freshen at 24 months of age and weigh 1,350 pounds. The project has these goals:

• Average gains should be 1.5 pounds per day from birth to 2 months of age.
• Average gains should be 1.7 to 1.8 pounds per day from 2 to 12 months of age.
• Heifers should be bred at 13 to 15 months of age, weighing 750 to 850 pounds with a withers height of 50 to 52 inches and a body condition score of 3 to 3.5.
• Heifers maintain a 60-day breeding period and achieve an overall pregnancy rate of 90 percent or greater.
• Average daily gain from breeding to calving should be 1.8 pounds.
• Heifers weighing 1,350 pounds calve at 24 months of age, with a withers height of 55 inches or taller and a body condition score of 3.5.

"From weaning on, we weigh heifers every 60 to 90 days," said Bennett. "We also take withers heights and body condition scores. I plot that data on each heifer as a permanent track record of how the heifers are doing.

"The most critical time is usually at five to six months of age," he added. "We are more likely to slip from the projected goals about that time."

"That can be a critical time in growing and developing heifers," agreed Steevens. "Some calves don't gain well for a few weeks or even a few months, and that throws them off track."

"This project is pointing out some things that happen and when they happen," said Ed Nierman, Concordia, Mo. He's a dairy producer who participates in the program. "For example, we have some odd pastures--mostly fescue--that are located between crop fields. And we think we need to utilize that grass, but we've learned it may not be the best forage for growing heifers. We had some odd-sized heifers on feed, and they were doing well. Then we put them on fescue pastures, and they stopped growing."

Nierman notes that spot-checking growth and weight regularly can flag a producer's attention to management details that need adjusting.

"We turned a few smaller heifers in with some older heifers and the younger heifers slowed down," he recalled. "They had plenty of bunk space, and we were feeding them all the same. But the cattle set up a sort of social pecking order. The bigger heifers bullied the smaller ones away from the bunk. Now that we can see it on paper, it really reinforces how that sort of thing can affect growth and development."

Grouping heifers by size is critically important, agreed Barry Steevens. Larger animals often intimidate smaller heifers.

"It's easy to overlook other critical details," he added. "Take fly control, for instance. Flies can cause irritation to the teat tissue. The area becomes inflamed and scabs over and creates an avenue for infectious organisms. That may be a major cause of mastitis in a newly freshened cow or heifer."

In addition to UMC specialists, several private veterinarians and nutritionists are working with dairy producers on the project. One of them is Butch Turner, MFA NutriServe consultant, who has been involved since the program got underway nearly a year ago.

"We're using portable scales from MFA agri services centers to weigh many of the heifers," Turner said. "When you spot-check weights at regular intervals and chart each heifer's growth on a graph, it can be an eye-opener."

Turner helps several of the dairy producers in the project with rations that will achieve the desired growth and performance.

"We aren't simply interested in putting on weight; we want to grow a frame, too," Turner said. "MFA TrendSetter, fed at 1 percent of a heifer's body weight along with forage, will make her grow and gain upwards of two pounds per day and do it at a feed cost of about 33 to 35 cents per pound of gain." TrendSetter is especially formulated as a growing/developing ration. "It's ideal for what we are trying to do in this dairy heifer development project," Turner added. "The idea is to get heifers into the milking string earlier, at a target weight and size."

If a heifer calves at two years of age and meets the weight, height and body condition goals, there isn't much "slack" time from when she is born.

"It seems a simple thing to do, but details are very important," said Barry Steevens. "And of all the problems that have to be overcome to meet the goals, nutrition is No. 1."