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- Title
Spanish language educational opportunities for Idaho dairy employees-raising healthy calves.
- Authors
Chahine, M.; Norell, R.; Jensen, S.; Dalton, J.; Carranza, R.; Etter, S.; Chebel, R.
- Abstract
Cultural and language differences present significant communication challenges between dairy operators and their employees. According to the Department of Labor, 90% of the workforce on southern Idaho dairies is Hispanic. Language barriers directly affect the performance of calf raisers who are capable of doing a very good job if they are properly trained. Training Hispanic farm labor in dairy management is critical for minimizing the spread of disease, raising healthy herd replacements, optimizing production, and increasing farm profitability. In response to requests from the Cooperative Extension Dairy Advisory Boards and the Animal and Veterinary Science Department Advisory Board (composed of dairy producers and allied industry personnel); we developed a new course for Idaho's Hispanic dairy workers. The course was entitled 'Raising Healthy Calves'. It focused on calving area cleanliness, physiology of birth, calving assistance, basic neonatal management, colostrum feeding, calf health, calf nutrition, and calf housing. Power point presentations were developed in English and Spanish. A handbook comprised of chapters addressing each of these topics in detail, in both Spanish and English, was also developed to accompany the course. In 2005, the course was offered in Caldwell, Twin Falls, and Blackfoot. Over 120 Hispanic employees attended the calf raising program. The delivery of this Spanish language program provided an educational opportunity for a traditionally underserved group throughout the state of Idaho. Proper calf raising techniques should lead to improved quality of calf care and reduced incidence of death and disease. Future efforts will seek to identify actual adoption of proper calf raising procedures to better quantify actual economic impacts.
- Subjects
IDAHO; SPANISH language; DAIRY farm management; CATTLE; COLOSTRUM; DAIRY processing; ANIMAL science; VETERINARY medicine; CALVES; COOPERATIVE dairy industry
- Publication
Journal of Animal Science, 2006, Vol 84, p185
- ISSN
0021-8812
- Publication type
Article