WHITING — A free dairy herd management workshop, Raising Healthy Heifers, will be offered Aug. 25. from 10 a.m. to noon, at Taconic End Farm, 1395 Leicester-Whiting Road, Leicester. Dr. Dayna Locitzer, a large animal veterinarian at the Green Mountain Bovine Clinic in Chesterfield, N. H., will lead the workshop.

The session will focus on preventative care and treatment of common diseases. It will include a farm tour to observe how the owners raise their calves. Participants will hear about best practices for raising replacements, colostrum management, milk feeding, housing, scours and calfhood pneumonia. Vermont grazing consultant and co-presenter Sarah Flack will discuss pasture management for heifers on three Vermont farms.

Locitzer, has worked with pasture-based dairies in the Northeast for more than 10 years as well as worked on organic dairy farms in New York prior to enrolling in veterinary school.

The workshop is one of three being offered by UVM Extension this summer. The Richardson Family Farm in Hartland will host Physical Exam of the Herd and Individual Cow on July 14 at their farm at 18 Richardson Farm Rd. Understanding Mastitis to Produce Quality Milk will be held at Rebop Farm,1320 Sunset Lake Road, Brattleboro, on Sept. 8.

Farmers may sign up for one or more workshops at go.uvm.edu/herdhealth. Registration is required as space is limited. If requiring a disability-related accommodation to attend, please contact Kelsie Meehan at (518) 810-6431 or [email protected] at least two weeks prior to the date of the workshop.

Additional dairy herd management workshops will be offered virtually this fall via Zoom. Topics will include vaccines on Oct. 6, calving and when to intervene on Oct. 20, and fluid therapy to treat sick cows on Nov. 3. Details and registration information is available at go.uvm.edu/herdhealth.

Both the summer and fall workshops are sponsored by University of Vermont Extension and the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center. For more information, email Kelsie Meehan at [email protected] or call (518) 810-6431.