Below are the featured articles from recent issues of Hoard's Dairyman.


May 15 2023
I used to have a poster in my office that said, “Everything I learned, I learned from a cow.”
May 4 2023
It seems no two dairies have the exact same plan of how to manage bunks and what to do with the feed refusals. With a likely new normal for feed cost levels, it is a good time to re-evaluate how feed refusals...
May 4 2023
As agriculture’s labor pool continues to shrink, the dairy industry faces the challenging reality of attracting and retaining employees. Other businesses like construction, landscaping, hotels, and...
April 25 2023
There are a lot of colors represented on a dairy farm, but I do not know two colors more discussed, bantered about, and tossed around than red and green. There is a strong and clear competition between...
April 18 2023
For many readers, first cut will be just around the corner as you read this article. To say the least, unlocking the energy in your forages to fuel herd performance is a top priority during first cutting...
April 18 2023
Let’s face it, anyone who wants to be a dairy farmer may just be a tad unique. Why would one toil from sunup to sundown with loads of challenges, unknowns, and financial hurdles? Simply said, it...
April 18 2023
Fertilization rates range from 55% to 88% in high-producing dairy cows, resulting in calving rates of 30% or less following a single A.I. Pregnancy loss remains a major factor inhibiting reproductive performance...
April 18 2023
In the last issue, we examined the variation in waiting time for cows to be milked in a free-flow robot facility. We were concerned that some cows have very prolonged waiting times due to competition at...
April 10 2023
lately I have been thinking about how a dairy farm lifestyle fits into a world of instant gratification
April 4 2023
We tend to assume that in automated milking systems (AMS), cows spend little to no time waiting to be milked compared to cows that stand in a holding area, waiting to be milked in the parlor
March 28 2023
In the simplest terms, price volatility is the change in a commodity’s price over time. Daily, weekly, monthly, and annual periods are often typical points to track to reference price movements....
March 28 2023
Women have always been integral to the operation of a dairy farm, through work on the farm itself and decisions made at the kitchen table. USDA’s latest Agricultural Resource Management Survey reports...
March 28 2023
I was in the middle of a right displaced abomasum (RDA) surgery when the lights went off. Yes, it was later than we usually do these procedures, but Dave and his crew had been busy chopping hay and a cow,...
March 27 2023
Despite how commonly calves are transported, surprisingly little research has been conducted to evaluate this practice. In addition, the research that has been done has mostly focused on physiological...
March 27 2023
They come in many shapes, sizes, and colors, but one tool that every dairy farm uses to get jobs done each day is the tractor. From fieldwork to feeding, these machines make chores easier
March 27 2023
The dairy farming journey of Troy and Barb DeRosier and their son Jordan of Crystal Ball Farms has been anything but straight and short — long and winding would be a more accurate description
March 27 2023
National, regional, and state show honors adorn nearly all of the cows in the 93rd annual Hoard’s Dairyman Cow Judging Contest, and these animals represent the best of their breeders’ and owners’...
March 15 2023
Sometimes I am reminded that not everyone has the same values we carry; trust and strong character are a part of a farmer’s makeup. Our handshake is as good as a signed contract, and we don’t...
Feb. 27 2023
One of the reasons that corn or sorghum silage has become the leading forage choice for larger dairies is the consistency from day to day throughout the entire silage-feeding year
Feb. 27 2023
A required nutrient must be supplied to cells for the cow to maintain normal health, produce milk, and reproduce. Just because a nutrient is required, though, does not mean that a specific requirement