An important part of running any business is finding enterprises that complement each other. For one Michigan dairy farm, potatoes and cows have been the perfect pair. The VanDrese

As anyone who is involved in dairy farming knows, mastitis can be a very frustrating disease. It sounds simple enough to keep mastitis-causing organisms away from the teat canal when it is open, but

Transferring a dairy farm to the next generation can be complicated. No one wants to make it difficult; however, there are a lot of assets on the balance sheet. Terms and agreements in writing m

Tight margins that ranged from $5.76 to $9.17 per hundredweight after feed costs were among the reasons that 1,725 dairy farmers exited the industry last year. Those business closings were only

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) just celebrated its 23rd birthday. NAFTA is a three-country trade accord negotiated between the North American countries that include Canada, Mexi

Not everyone likes Mondays. I do because it is preg check day at our Kansas State Dairy. It is the culmination of a lot of effort made by everyone on the dairy farm

The possibility of the next generation joining the farm can be an exciting time; yet change, even positive change, can be stressful

Marilyn Hershey You will never see me climb up the side of a silo or shimmy up a ladder to the barn roof. I like both feet on solid, unwavering ground

Many people may have heard about the four or five D’s when it comes to lending and farming. Each can tear a business apart. Some of the D’s are unavoidable. Others are a matter of choice

While beef prices have been making a rebound from last fall’s market bottom, dairy beef hasn’t benefited from the improvement in meat prices. That’s because the demand for our bull calves

Over the past decade, Wisconsin’s dairy industry has seen a resurgence in dairy cow numbers by adding 43,000 additional cows to its farms

Karen BohnertOprah Winfrey once said, “You can have it all — just not all at once.” And, honestly, I never really understood what this meant until I hit motherhood. Trying to...

Obedience comes in many shapes and sizes on the farm. Some rules are big and noticeable and some are so commonplace they do not get much attention. We teach our children how to obey at a

As is always the case, the key factors affecting milk prices this year will be demand and supply. On the favorable front for U.S. prices is a likely continuation of last year’s robust domestic demand

I’d come to expect the unorthodox from Don. Hard driving, able to think outside the box, Don made great strides in turning around a large, troubled dairy operation

It’s high time that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforce its own existing regulations that clearly define milk as originating from dairy animals

as dairy producers continue through the second year of very slim or negative margins, I am sure many of you are feeling rather discouraged. I have never been a dairy farmer, so I cannot speak from experience

Change is only fun for a baby with a wet diaper. Sometimes we seek change, sometimes change finds us. When it finds us, it’s usually better to not be a baby about it

The best of 1976. Steve Jobs formed Apple computer. Nadia Comaneci won three Olympic Golds. Rocky premiered in cinema. ABBA had a number one song with “Dancing Queen.”

Only 2.2 percent of a cow’s diet is digestible and desirable to the U.S. human food market