Federal safety net programs are designed to protect farmers, who actively share in the risk of a farming operation, against unanticipated changes in the marketplace. Farmers who receive such payments are...

How does a year always seem to go by in a blur? And why does all of the big dairy news always seem like it just happened? Here are 10 items that stick out in my mind: Manure is a four-letter word. Wow,...

Is this California's Dust Bowl? "Drought is not uncommon in California - it happens every summer," noted Thomas Harter when discussing California's past four years of drought. But California is in the...

A unique partnership was born in 1999 when Jake and Saskia Zwemmer approached a group of crop farmers in the thumb of Michigan. The Zwemmers wanted to focus their talents on cow care and buy forages from...

"We are trying to be very vigilant about staying within the statutory direction of the department (USDA), which is to focus on nutrition and diet," USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack explained to those attending...

Five strikes and you're finally out. For the fifth time in seven years, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against the U.S. mandatory Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL) law – and it was going...

All plastics aren't created equal by Amanda Smith, Associate Editor Plastic covers are a convenient and effective method to help preserve our silage piles. When silos are not promptly sealed, fewer sugars...

When is field runoff risk the highest, particularly in more northern climates? "March is the month," says Amber Radatz, co-director of the University of Wisconsin Discovery Farms. She explained that March...

"The grid sampling was quite interesting. Some farmers have fields that do better in some areas than other areas," explained Les Danielson. "You may have suspicions as to those fields; however, the grid...

In the Upper Midwest Federal Milk Marketing Order, roughly one-third of the milk came from herds that had 1,000 or more cows. "Roughly" is the key word, as some assumptions must be made when sifting through...

Across U.S., the "queen of forages" is also a king of crops. Dairy cows love alfalfa, so it's no wonder that demand for it comes overwhelmingly from milk producers. And despite recent years of volatile...

by Amanda Smith, Associate Editor We've all seen silage spoilage. The flecks of colored mold sprinkled throughout a bunker. The layer of discoloration across the middle of a face. The thick, black crust...