HD Notebook

Green Bay, Wis., is the site of the 5th national AgSTAR conference. For those of you unfamiliar with AgSTAR, it is a joint program between the EPA, USDA, and the U.S. Department of Energy aimed at encouraging the use of methane recovery systems on America's farms. Read more

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced last week that $2 million will be made available to dairy, beef, poultry, and swine producers for energy evaluations. The new agriculture energy conservation and efficiency initiative, announced in conjunction with a meeting of the Innovation Center for U.S. Read more

People in the California dairy industry were understandably upset when it was discovered that there was a large model cow wearing a gas mask in an exhibit at the Monterey Bay Acquarium. According to Western United Dairymen's newsletter, Weekly Update, WUD field rep Dennis Miguel visited the exhibit and reported what he saw. Read more

Big dairies are big business, so big that it only takes a few of them to have a huge financial impact on an area’s economy. Read more

There was a 0.9 percent rise in milk production during March in the top 23 dairy states, according to USDA's Milk Production report released earlier this week. That was the second month in a row that milk production was above year-earlier levels despite the cost-price squeeze that's affecting dairy operations across the nation. Read more

Advocacy for the dairy industry and agriculture isn't always easy. It takes courage to stand up to what might not be the popular majority. But, one program for dairy industry enthusiasts is teaching the skills necessary to become a positive advocate for our way of life. Read more

If continued low milk prices weren't depressing enough, there is now an embryo and semen thief in our midst. Based on information that Hoard's Dairyman has learned from four of the five victims, the thief or thieves know exactly what they are looking for — high-priced semen and embryos. Read more

They’re black and white (or brown) on the outside, but these days there’s also a golden glow to cull dairy cows. Read more

Interest in some type of policy to control milk production or manage milk supply growth continues to gather steam. Even some people and some organizations that have been categorically opposed to the concept at least are keeping a more open mind. Read more

Walmart, Wendy's, Burger King, and Subway have all jumped on the cage-free egg bandwagon. Each of these food retailers has made some sort of commitment to providing food products made with eggs from chickens not raised in cages. In fact, making the boldest move of them all, Subway is now implementing a plan to go completely cage-free. Read more