Here at Intershape, we are firm believers that the learning never stops. If there is a way to help our customers improve calf health, streamline their setups, and boost overall efficiency, we want to know about it.
That’s why last week, Emily and Jo headed out to the National Youngstock Conference.
It was a brilliant, jam-packed day. Alongside bumping into old industry friends and meeting some fantastic new faces to build future relationships with, a mission for the day was scouting. We are actively looking to expand our product portfolio to include more day-to-day farm essentials and innovative ideas to improve your farm’s efficiency.
We also sat in on some brilliant seminars. Here are the highlights that got us thinking about how we can better serve you:
Putting Health and Ventilation First
Data, prevention and environment were massive themes this year, which perfectly aligns with what we do best at Intershape:
- Data-Driven Decisions: The AHDB presentation on the latest GB Calf Strategy heavily emphasised making data-driven decisions on the farm to track and improve performance.
- Respiratory Health & Ventilation: Boehringer Ingelheim gave a fantastic talk on managing respiratory health. This is a topic incredibly close to our hearts, as our calf hutches are specifically engineered with optimum ventilation at the forefront to protect respiratory health from day one.
- Holistic Pneumonia Control: Zoetis focused on the trio of prevention, management, and monitoring. This tied in beautifully not just with our ventilated housing, but with our recent expansion into calf nutrition and health products, such as our colostrum sachets, as well as our reliable range of biosecurity and hygiene disinfectants.
- The Ultimate Environment: Galebreaker shared insights from a study involving a specially designed calf shed. While the study looked at a different housing setup to our traditional calf hutches, it was fascinating to see how heavily they prioritised the exact same principles we build into our products: maximising fresh air, eliminating drafts, and reducing moisture.
Future Ideas & The Power of Water
We also picked up some great inspiration for where Intershape may grow:
- Trace Element Innovations: Virbac hosted an interesting session on trace element injections. While injections aren’t our area, it got us thinking about the future of our stock range—perhaps trace element supplementation could be a future consideration for the Intershape portfolio!
- The Forgotten Nutrient: Finally, Cargill delivered a vital reminder about the critical role of water in calf nutrition. It’s an area that often gets overlooked because the industry focus is so heavily on milk replacers, but the data on ad-lib water access is undeniable. It was a great reminder of why our auto-filling Float Bowl’s are such a game-changer for busy calf rearers.
Let’s Chat Youngstock!
We’ve come back to the office with notebooks full of ideas, a stronger network of industry connections, and an even clearer vision for how we want to expand our range to bring you the best farm essentials.
If you’re looking to upgrade your calf housing, chat about nutrition and biosecurity, or want to ensure your water setups are maximizing calf growth, please get in touch!