Congressman David Valadao is a partner in his family's 1,700-cow dairy operation. While his new job forced him to take a back seat on the dairy, he is excited to represent us in Washington. Whether he's...
If there was ever an industry-wide wake-up call that the fluid milk sector is in dire need of innovation, it would be the demise of Golden Guernsey. Once the pillar of innovation, the Waukesha, Wis., plant...
Dave and I were working through a calf raising evaluation form developed by one of our drug companies. The form compared Dave's records to benchmarks at different performance levels
AS 2012 drew to a close, the prospects of a new farm bill gaining final approval splintered as House leadership refused to bring it forward for a vote. While most components of the expiring farm bill were...
They set out to reinvigorate a brand. In the process, Domino's revitalized the entire pizza category. Through teawork, Domino's and DMI partnered to improve pizza taste and quality. The relationship started...
Researchers from around the globe gathered in Canada to discuss breeding better Holsteins. The ongoing investigations will benefit all breeds as we learn more about the bovine genome. It's an event that...
Whether you are buying or renting, escalating land prices should cause everyone to run careful calculations before signing on the dotted line. It is somewhat unlikely that incomes would rise if interest...
Marshall McCullough was a University of Georgia dairy nutritionist who wrote for Hoard's Dairyman for many years, including the book Roughages for Dairy Cattle.One day after looking at some extremely high...
Every year, about this time, I spend extra effort developing my outlook for dairy. Every year a story unfolds about why milk prices are expected to move up or down, and the story usually derives from a...
Three years ago, one of my Christmas gifts was a ColdGear shirt. The giver thought this was the perfect undergear for someone who works outside through the winter. It is thin but keeps you warm by a technology...
Now that the election is over, we urge Congress and the President to get down to the business of compromise. In farm circles, estate taxes should be top of mind in addition to the farm bill. It has been...
Before winter hits, evaluate these five pieces of your feeding program with your nutritionist to improve your feeding regime now and develop a cropping strategy
While growth continues in many dairy product categories, including cheese, fluid milk is garnering attention due to its decades-long downward consumption trend. Domino's helped move an additional 6.6 billion...
Focus on fertility pays big dividends for the five Platinum winners of the Dairy Cattle Reproduction Council's Reproduction Award competition. Carefully following protocols; keen heat detection; comfortable...
Discussing the ideal size for a cow can be a contentious topic. Some prefer large cows because their udders are further from the ground which makes milking easier in a tie stall setting, and of course...
She has the IT factor," said the voice of the veterinarian who trained me to be a practitioner. Of course, I hold what he says in high regard, but I honestly didn't know what he was talking about. I asked...
Being tight with a buck may bring the highest net per cow and hundredweight, but with high-quality management, profit is still possible. More milk won't equal more money if a producer only focuses on efficiencies...
Is it getting more difficult to successfully A.I. breed dairy cows? That was the question posed by colleagues in a scholarly review of research and history involving A.I. breeding of dairy cows. What follows...
Dairy industry veterans have long memories. Many in our industry have weathered a number of economic storms that took place in 2002, 2006, 2009 and now 2012. Whether comparing income-over-feed costs or...
The United States has maintained a commodity market focus. But by studying New Zealand's Fonterra Cooperative, we see that entering the value-added market could provide combined advantages