This week I am excited to be summarizing an interview I did with someone who I consider a very good friend and mentor! His name is Bob Hostetler. Over the span of his career Bob has worked as a Dairy Nutritionist and a Life Coach.  Bob got his start working with Milk Products, and overtime had experience working with Cargill and as an Independent Dairy Calf Consultant. Bob has always had a passion for youngstock and young people. Not only has been a great resource for raising calves, but he also enjoys being there to support and mentor those who are just beginning their careers in the dairy industry.

Near the end of his Dairy Nutrition career Bob took a little change of pace and went to work for one of his best customers, ST Genetics, at their Ohio Heifer Center. His roles there included nutrition, feed manager, and for a time calf manager. Bob recently retired and is transitioning to the next stage of life.

Q. What is one of the biggest mental challenges you see facing the world today?

A. People are being pushed off their core values. What used to be core values for them have now become aspirational values. This means their ability to deal with stress goes down, because they are not who they want to be anymore.

Q. What advice do you have to help improve communication for those working on family farms?

A. From what I have observed, especially on family farms, is that everyone makes assumptions of what other family members core values are. Those assumptions often lead to pretty lousy places.

First of all, you need to feel safe enough with each other to be honest, open, and direct in your communication. From there you need to discover one another’s core values. A core value is something that you believe in strongly enough to organize your life around it.

If you think something is a core value, but you don’t organize your life around it, then it becomes an aspirational value. Take a step back and look at how you are directing your life, and that will tell you what you are valuing at that time.

On a family farm it’s easy to believe that other family members share, or should share, the same core values. That they organize their lives around the same things as other family members. A lot of times that is not actually true, and they need to find that out about each other.

Strengths and weaknesses are often talked about to make sure people get put in the right role, but core values are rarely talked about and that is where the stress really multiplies.

Q. What advice do you give to help people evaluate their lives and find how to live with purpose?

A. Be honest and open with yourself. Look at your core values, what your life is organized around. Then decide if that is where you want to stay. For many people, if a core value is to stay in the dairy business, then they need to organize their life around it. Honest open dialogue with yourself, often with someone else’s help, family members, clergy, even the feed manager! Various places to have honest open dialogue. Often, we believe we are something when we really actually are not.

Q. What advice would you give someone who has chosen to take a different path and leave the family farm?

A. Well, a basic question to ask is “Who am I?” and then, “Who do you want to be?” I have often found in my life I need to zero in on who I want to be. Each of us has a gap between who we are and who we want to be. The closer we can live to be who we want to be, then the more able we become to handle stress.

Q. What advice would you give farmers to help improve mental wellness during stressful times like during times of increasing input costs, such as of late?

A. Core values are a big part of it. Another big part of it is personality traits. If your personality traits aren’t in line with the job you have to do, then stress multiplies. Assess yourself to determine if your strengths align with the job you are doing. Find the right person to manage the dollars and cents.

Sometimes for a period of time we can get along with doing things that are not of our strengths. We simply do it just because it has to be done, every dairy farmer has been there. In the long run to stay at it, there must be a match between who we are and want to be (core values) and personality strengths.

Look at the role you are playing, is it the right one? Should you be in a different role on the farm. Sometimes it helps to have someone else ask that question. If personal abilities are not in line with traits needed to fill a certain role, then the sense of failure multiplies stress. The farm should be organized in a way that helps people thrive.

Q. What advice do you have to give for finding joy in the everyday grind and in spite of stressful factors that cannot be controlled?

A. Spiritually, Emotionally, and Vocationally if I am white knuckling (holding my fist around something very tightly), which often happens in financial stress situations. That causes anger, stress, and keeps us tense. It does not help me engage well with family. Any part of our lives that we can have an open hand with, then things get better. It’s important for us to be able to receive things from God. It’s important that we don’t wrap up in our own emotions but keep our hand open so we can deal with others well, including those we work with. Open handedness in life is a useful thing for us all to learn.

I will share a personal example, there was a time when our calf feeder did not show up. We had 350 calves that needed to be fed. There was no one to do it, so I had to do it. I started off really angry. My fists were clenched, and I wanted to hit somebody! Part way through I realized, I have to do this, and I am going to open my hands and enjoy the calves and enjoy the work. With my hands open I could enjoy the work. With my hands clenched the chances of enjoying the work are very small.

Bob has been a huge influence in the dairy calf and heifer world, both for the cattle and the people. His mentoring has reached and molded many people in the industry and as he likes to say, “Mentoring, is one of my God given talents. It is one of my core values to use that talent to better the lives of others.”

Although not always formally, Bob has used this God given talent to coach and mentor others his entire life.  ne of his goals in retirement is to continue to benefit the lives of others as a Life Coach. He is there to ask the hard questions that need to be asked, but that most of us would rarely ask ourselves. Anyone interested in contacting Bob to learn more about his coaching services can do so at Robert.hostetler57@gmail.com.

Written by: Mariah Gull, M.S.

The current labor shortage has been a challenge for many industries, including agriculture. Many factors have contributed to this shortage including impaired immigrant migration, an aging population, and the migration of younger generations to the cities. This week we will discuss some strategies for overcoming labor shortages.

Simplify

When there just isn’t enough help to get everything done evaluate activities that can be eliminated or modified and focus on doing the little things right. Maximize the time spent touching each calf, not only will this speed work up, but it is also less stressful on the animal.

Hone in protocols to prevent disease. Treating sick calves is one of the most labor-intensive activities involved in calf rearing. Review sanitation, colostrum, vaccination, and treatment protocols to ensure your calves have the best chance of staying healthy. Keep good records to evaluate the success of each protocol and aid in any adjustments that need to be made.

Technology

Nowadays there are so many ways that technology can streamline labor. Utilize equipment such as tagging systems to organize and report treatments, pen moves, vaccinations, etc.

Lung ultrasound is a tool that can aid in early detection of pneumonia. Early detection of disease gives the calf a much better chance of recovery and allows treatment to be quick and effective. Not only that but having the inside view of the lungs helps with visual assessment of the animal and learning what signs to look for when detecting early onset of respiratory illness. In addition, follow up scans after treatment allow decisions to be made on the effectiveness of particular treatments.

Auto-feeders are another technological development that may decrease the amount of labor needed. These systems can provide a lot of information about how each individual calf is eating and may help identify sick calves early. Keep in mind that although auto-feeders may reduce the number of employees needed to feed calves, group feeding systems are a totally different style of management than individual housing and protocols should be established appropriately.

It will be exciting to see what new technologies will be developed in the coming years that will assist farms in caring for animals with fewer employees involved.  Work is being done in developing “facial recognition” for cattle and precision dairy technologies to monitor calf activity such as lying time, activity, rumination, and response to stressful events. All of which could be helpful in reducing the human labor requirement.

Employee Investment

While it’s hard to find good help, let’s not forget to maximize the manpower we already have.  A few questions to consider are:

1. Are we utilizing the strengths of our employees?

Get to know your employees on an individual basis. Find out their personality strengths and what aspects of their job they are most passionate about.  Include them in discussions around effectiveness of current protocols and value their input on any changes that need to be made. When they feel heard and appreciated in the decision-making process, they will be more willing to stick to protocols and work towards common goals.

2. Are we giving them the tools they need to be successful?

Sometimes we expect a certain level of performance, and then forget to connect all the dots to help our employees rise to those expectations. Take the time to teach employees not only the motions, but the why behind each task.  When their level of understanding increases, they will be more likely to ensure that things are done correctly. Also help them to realize that although some protocols may seem more labor intensive at first, in the long run it will save them time when things are done correctly the first time.

One way to invest in yourself and your employees is to participate in regular training and continued education. We created the Calf Care MasterClass to provide producers with a refresher course of all the basics of calf care, and as a training resource to be used for employees or others who are new to calf raising. It is currently available in English and will also be available in Spanish February 2022.

The tight labor situation won’t be going away anytime soon and may get worse before it gets better. Set a goal to reevaluate your labor needs and make any changes needed to become more efficient.

Written by: Mariah Gull, M.S.

Early identification and treatment of disease will increase the chances of survival for the young calf. Train employees to quickly pick up on signs that a calf is not feeling well. Depression, lethargy, not eating, elevated body temperature, ocular or nasal discharge, head tilt, and scours are some common signs a calf may not be doing well. Work with your veterinarian to establish protocols for early identification and treatment of disease.

In a world where antibiotic resistance is becoming an issue and consumer perceptions are favoring products from animals that have never been treated with antibiotics, we need to be open minded and be utilizing new technologies to improve the health and welfare of our livestock. Surveillance Calf does just that as it provides support to the front-line defenses of the calf, as it supports and maintains intestinal health and supports rumen development.

What does Surveillance provide?

Probiotics

• Bacillus subtilis thrives in the intestines and produces large quantities of digestive enzymes to aid in the digestion of feed. Bacillus subtilis also helps to create an environment of competitive exclusion, where pathogenic bacteria are excluded from the space on the intestinal wall.

Zinc Methionine

• Chelated zinc-methionine acts as an anti-diarrheal agent by protecting the lining of the intestine. Research has shown a 65% reduction in scours, an 18% improvement in average daily gain, a 20% improvement in feed efficiency when feeding zinc-methionine.

Bioactive Polysaccharides

• Surveillance contains a unique blend of biologically active polysaccharides and polypeptides to provide immune support.
  • Polysaccharides (a carbohydrate consisting of a number of sugar molecules bound together)
    • Polysaccharides are prebiotics that feed and stimulate growth of beneficial gut bacteria.
    • Prebiotics found in Surveillance also depress internal pathogens and increase the competency of the immune system.
  • Polypeptides (chain containing a large number of amino-acids bound together to form part of a protein)
    • Polypeptides can function as immunomodulators by supporting the immune system and preventing excess inflammation.

Yeast Culture

• Benefits of feeding yeast to calves include
  • Improved digestion and utilization of nutrients
  • Stabilization of rumen pH
  • Encouragement of growth of beneficial bacteria
  • Optimized animal performance
  • Supports mineral retention

Egg Proteins

• Unlike calves, who do not receive maternal immunity until after birth, chickens pass immunity directly into the eggs they lay. Egg protein technology (EPT) can produce large concentrations of antibodies (IgY) specific to common bovine pathogens. Feeding these antibodies can provide a critical bridge from birth until the calf can build its own immunity.

Yucca

• Yucca schidigera soothes the intestinal tissue, and reduces inflammation.

Phytogenics

• Substances of plant origin that contain anti-inflammatory properties.

Yeast Components, Prebioticis, and Postbiotics

• Yeast cell wall (YCW) helps improve the barrier function of the small intestine.
• Pre and Postbiotics help to feed the gastrointestinal tract.

How is Surveillance used?

So when can the calf benefit from Surveillance?  Here is a list of ways producers have found this supplement useful.

• Upon receiving drench dairy and beef calves with 15-30 ml/hd/day of surveillance.
• Supplement for gut development and illness prevention, 6-10 ml/hd/day added to milk feedings.
• Add to electrolyte feedings of sick calves, 15 ml/hd/day.
• Scours solution, drench 20 ml of Kaopectate and 30 ml of Surveillance down the throat.
• During any stressful event, weaning, shipping, etc. orally drench 20-30 ml
  • 2021 has brought drought conditions to many areas of the United States. A lot of beef cattle are coming off summer pastures early, and many of the calves are also being weaned and/or shipped abruptly giving them little or no time to adjust to creep or ration feeds. This is a prime example of a time when Surveillance could definitely be used to help mitigate illness and aid transition onto dry feeds.

Where can you buy Surveillance?

Surveillance provides many opportunities to improve calf health and is a great alternative to antibiotic therapies. Surveillance can now be purchased through the Calf Distinction Store!

Written by: Mariah Gull, M.S.