October 1, 2024
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Shelly Mayer
800-947-7379
mail@pdpw.org
 
Program flier
Calf pic with key details
 
 
Register Today for Insights from Leading Calf Care Researchers at 2024 PDP Calf Care Connection
Repeating workshops on Oct. 15, 16 will focus on biosecurity and health challenges
 
DAIRY NEWS – The latest research on preventing and treating key calf diseases, insights on biosecurity practices, hands-on breakout sessions, and the opportunity to interact with forward-thinking dairy producers and calf care managers are all on tap for the 2024 Calf Care Connection® workshop presented by Professional Dairy Producers® (PDP). Simultaneous Spanish translation will be provided for the entire workshop.
 
“Calf Care Connection not only gives dairy producers and team members access to some of the leading researchers in calf care, it also provides networking opportunities with calf care managers from other dairies to share ideas and learn from each other,” said Patty Dolph, PDP board member and dairy producer from Lake Mills, Wis. “The latest information about preventing and treating disease is especially critical as we prepare for colder weather just around the corner.”
 
Two, one-day sessions of the Care Connection workshop will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 15, at Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wis., and again on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College in Fennimore, Wis. Each day, registration begins at 9:00 a.m. with the program concluding at 3:45 p.m.
 
Presenters at the 2024 workshop include:

• Dr. Don Sockett, DVM, Ms, PhD, is the diagnostic case and outreach specialist with the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. A leading expert in biosecurity, he has authored over 100 articles on infectious diseases of dairy cattle in scientific and lay journals. He will present “Biosecurity: define the rules of sharing,” with a focus on how infectious pathogens are spread on a dairy farm and how to alleviate the spread among calves, across the dairy and to humans.
• Dr. Theresa Ollivett, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (LAIM), is an associate professor at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UW-Madison, where her responsibilities are split between veterinary student teaching, practical field-based research, outreach and services roles. She will present “Identify the signs of pneumonia,” during which she’ll demonstrate ways to identify and diagnose clinical and subclinical calf pneumonia by examining postmortem calf lungs and discussing treatment best practices.
• Dr. Melissa Cantor, PhD, assistant professor in Precision Dairy Science at Penn State University, where she leads an applied dairy research program that explores the potential of new precision technologies and investigates the impact of disease, precision nutrition strategies, and environment on cattle. Dr. Cantor’s “Dissect the digestives” breakout session will help participants reassess the way they manage calf scours by seeing what normal and abnormal calf intestines look like and learning practical strategies for prevention and treatment.
• Dr. Derek Foster, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, is an associate professor of Ruminant Medicine at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. In “Time to act: manage and treat scours,” he will share new information about electrolyte therapy and other fluid treatments for scours with best practices on selecting and using these therapies to correct calf hydration.

 
Calf Care Connection workshop is accredited for up to 4.5 Dairy AdvanCE continuing education credits and up to 5.0 ARPAS continuing education credits.
 
Learn more about the 2024 PDP Calf Care Connection, including speaker information and available continuing-education units, and register your team today by visiting www.pdpw.org or calling 800-947-7379. Follow along digitally in advance of and during the event by following @dairyPDPW on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
 
Professional Dairy Producers (PDP) is the nation's largest dairy producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
 
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