The 2025–2030 GB Calf Strategy sets out a clear path for improving the health, welfare, and performance of calves across the UK. Following GB Calf Week, it’s encouraging to see the progress being made and the ambition for the years ahead.
The strategy is built on four guiding themes: People, Purpose, Practical, and Protocol. When these pillars are in place, farms can achieve not only stronger calf health but also improved long-term business performance.
At Promar International, we see this as an opportunity to help farmers make small, practical changes that slot naturally into daily routines. Success doesn’t come from adding extra jobs to an already busy day, but from integrating improvements seamlessly into existing systems.
Five Key Considerations for Youngstock Management
1. Integration
Design improvements that work with your daily flow.
- Adjust routes from the calving pen to calf housing.
- Make clean equipment the easiest option.
- Keep SOPs (standard operating procedures) short, clear, and visible.
2. Labour and Team
Protocols only succeed when they match staff capacity.
- Align calf tasks with available labour.
- Ensure weekend staff feel confident in their roles.
- Use whiteboards or SOPs to keep everyone on the same page.
3. Proactive and Tailored
Prevention is better than firefighting.
- Adapt SOPs to your system—AYR vs. block calving, dairy vs. beef flows.
- Build in basics: dry pens between calves, use easy-clean surfaces, and handle calves youngest to oldest.
4. Realistic Steps
Start with quick wins before committing to major investment.
- Refresh boot dips.
- Separate mixing and feeding kit.
- Use a pen-by-pen cleaning checklist.
5. Data with Purpose
Numbers only matter if they drive decisions.
- Use farm data already available to guide actions.
- Link results back to outcomes: improved health, faster growth, earlier service, and stronger first-lactation yields.
What GB Calf Week Reinforced
- Mimicking nature: Extending transition milk feeding supports immunity and links directly to the 6Qs of colostrum.
- Nutrition: High-quality milk replacers with the right fat content are key for early growth.
- Disease control: A five-point crypto plan highlighted that hygiene across the entire farm is non-negotiable.
- Housing: Research showed that social calves learn faster, start eating earlier, and adapt better.
- Economics: Small gains in the first 12 weeks create lifetime performance and profitability benefits.
How Promar Supports the GB Calf Strategy
Our consultancy directly contributes to the pillars of the GB Calf Strategy:
- Right Calf: Through purposeful breeding advice.
- Right Start: With SOP development, staff training, and youngstock reviews.
- Right Route: By linking farm data with supply chains to support transparency and fair returns.
Want to know what your heifers are really achieving?
Ask us about our youngstock management review, a practical benchmarking tool that gives you clear next steps you can start tomorrow.
About The Author
07815 978 362
lucy.ross@genusplc.com
