Our Story

The 1980’s were an exciting time. Rapid developments in computing technology meant that computing resources previously available only at large corporations or universities suddenly were becoming available to everyone. IBM and Apple introduced “microcomputers” – with limited resources at the time, but with enough computing power to allow users to formulate simple diets, group animals, and predict economic returns on the farm. There was a lack of modeling data to develop prediction models for calves and heifers, which became the topic for Jim’s Ph.D. disseration. Soon advanced ration formulation software was available and the consulting nutritionist industry was born. Computer technology on the dairy farm became the thread of this saga.

From the humble beginnings of a model 5150 IBM personal computer with floppy drives and 64K operating systems to today’s turbocharged laptops with gigabytes of RAM and terrabytes of disk space, Calf Notes has been a constant source of calf management information for one and all. We began in 1997. Spanish translations began in the early 2000’s, followed by translations into Portuguese in the mid-2000’s and Russian in 2020. Russian translations were sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The NC-119 Connection

The story of Calf Notes began at the University of Tennessee, when Jim was appointed as Associate Professor in the Department of Animal Science. As part of his research progam in dairy management, he became a member of the NC-119 Regional Research project. The NC-119 Regional Research project, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was a program to fund research and outreach at Land Grant universities and improve large dairy herd management. Members of this project conducted collaborative research at their universities to assist the rapidly changing dairy industry become more profitable. Dairy herds were disappearing, but cows were moving to larger and larger herds. Milk production per cow increased constantly with improved genetics, nutrition, and management. Calves were being raised on dedicated “calf ranches”. NC-119 had a strong group of calf-focused members, and as a member from the University of Tennessee in the 1990’s, Jim participated in research on how to help producers become more efficient in calf raising.

The advent of the internet in the early 1990’s created a need and opportunity to use technology to provide dairy management information through this “new” medium. Many members of NC-119 volunteered to develop websites to provide farm management information through the “world wide web”. I volunteered to write articles on calf rearing and managment. Calf Notes was born in 1997.

Since those humble beginnings, Calf Notes has always been a source for scientifically sound calf management information. It remains so today. Calf Notes Consulting, LLC, was founded in 2024 to provide the industry with consulting services based on Jim’s 40+ years of experience working with calves. Today, Calf Notes contains more than 500 blog posts, manuscripts, spreadsheets, and other documents that provide information on calf rearing.

To stay relevant in this more rapid, video-based medium, Calf Notes needed to change and grow. Thus, we introduced “What’s Happening?” in 2025. This is a video series that explores the story behind an interesting and important photo or video Jim took sometime during his 40+ year career working with calves and heifers.

The additional workload of developing educational content plus video development (recording, editing, etc.) required additional resources, so the Team at Calf Notes Consulting increased from one to three employees. We now have a core group that develops and manages all the educational content, social media presence, and communicating our message to the public.

There was a clear need to provide useful information to a broad range of consumers – from on-farm workers to nutritionists and DVM’s – and this meant that our educational offerings needed to expand, also. In 2026, we developed a wholistic approach to our offerings and introduced Calf Notes Academy. The offerings in the Academy range from simple (Calf Notes Basics) to highly technical (Tech Seminars), so there’s something for everyone.

Our newest endeavor – Calf Notes Tools – was rolled out in 2026 as a series of executable programs that allow users to arrange and design calf feeding programs to optimize nutrient delivery while minimizing costs and to understand the interactions among nutrients such as protein and energy. The first programs – OsmoCalc, LPSolve, and NASCalf – are all freely available to use as educational tools in learning more about calf nutrition and management. Each program comes as a downloaded program, along with support knowledge base and a forum to communicate with other users.

Our goal is to continue to make Calf Notes your preferred source for useful calf information. We will continue to develop information to stay relevant and provide the most up-to-date information possible.

Thanks for your interest in Calf Notes!