Burlington--Free dairy herd management workshops will be offered this summer on three Vermont farms.

Dr. Dayna Locitzer, a large animal veterinarian at the Green Mountain Bovine Clinic in Chesterfield, New Hampshire, will lead these on-farm sessions. She 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.

Farmers may sign up for one or more workshops at https://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 kelsie.meehan@uvm.edu at least two weeks' prior to the date of the workshop.

All workshops will take place from 10 a.m. to noon. Dates, topics and locations are:

• July 14 — Physical Exam of the Herd and Individual Cow; Richardson Family Farm, 18 Richardson Farm Rd., Hartland. Participants will learn how to assess whole herd and individual cow health and practice performing a physical exam on a cow to better understand how to identify sick cows, target treatment and assess severity of the illness. Locitzer will talk about the cow's daily "time budget," a method farmers can use to observe their cows on pasture to manage their herd's needs more effectively.
• August 25 — Raising Healthy Heifers; Taconic End Farm, 1395 Leicester-Whiting Rd., Leicester. This 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.
• September 8 — Understanding Mastitis to Produce Quality Milk; Rebop Farm, 1320 Sunset Lake Rd., Brattleboro. Farmers will explore the steps to take to improve milk quality, the importance of udder health and the causes, types and prevention of mastitis. Farm owners Ashlyn Bristle and Abraham McClurg will describe what they do to maintain low somatic cell counts and achieve exceptional milk quality on their pasture-based dairy operation.

Additional dairy herd management workshops will be offered virtually this fall via Zoom. Topics will include vaccines (October 6); calving and when to intervene (October 20) and fluid therapy to treat sick cows (November 3). Details and registration information is available at https://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 kelsie.meehan@uvm.edu or call (518) 810-6431.