Cow/Calf Question

One thing that would worry me is getting 100 heifers to stop nursing. I'll bet that is quite noisy.

Perhaps but beef heifers and steers aren't used for milk, whereas dairy cows are used for the milk check.

You might try a little sideline experiment with a few cows and their calves first. When I seperated my calf from her cow last year I cought them nursing between the board fence. You might not have to have them run together but seperate them with fencing or a gate that will allow the calf to put his head through to the other side. With this arrangement you can limit access any time you want.

Another problem with the calves on the cow is that some are rough and will injure their teats. You'd have to pull the rough ones out of the ratation. This is not impossible but it could be complicated.

There is a farm in upstate NY that is raising calves with the mom's on pasture and milking. I'm trying to remember the name. They had a tour last year that I missed. I think it was through Graze NY or Cornel Coop Ext. It was south of us, Norwich, Ithaca, Binghamton, somewhere there.
I recall reading they bring the calves in with the moms at milking time.
Fascinating to me because I couldn't get one calf in with her mom at milking time, couldn't imagine 50 or 100. I'll post back when I find the name.
As for the cows not going on pasture, they prefer the barn. They have been fed and fed well in the barn, many don't even know how to graze anymore. Sad.