Row upon row of plastic silage bags frame the driveway at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm. Yet, plastic is a double-edged sword. In its many forms, from bunker silo covers to bale wrap, plastic has earned its...

In the just-begun, but already passionate, debate about what a California federal milk marketing order (FMMO) should look like, opinions by dairy producer and processor groups differ wildly

Not all diets consumed by fish are created equal . . . neither are foods eaten by humans. A research team headed up by Stephanie Venn-Watson at the National Marine Mammal Foundation set out to explore...

Times have changed. It once took incentives to get farmers to use young sires. Those days have faded into distant memory. These days, dairy producers have been voting with their respective wallets by buying...

Europe currently maintains a tight leash on farmers in terms of what genetically modified (GM) crops they can use. Just one GM crop is cultivated in Europe right now: maize. Almost 60 GM crops are permitted...

If you're like me, I have always believed living and working in the country does my soul good. And that is precisely why many of us work and live on dairy farms dotted throughout the rural countryside

"Too wet, too dry and just right," Goldilocks would say when evaluating corn silage, with just right being our goal! Growing high-yielding, high-quality corn is only half the battle when it comes to silage...

A buyer's market, at least for the time being, has returned to the crude oil price world. The complete list of reasons why is no doubt much longer, but I'll stick to a few basic ones I understand: 1. Fuel...

America's ability to develop and sell its food to international customers needs a little nurturing . . . or, in this case, a bridge. That bridge is the Foreign Agricultural Service or FAS. The FAS staff...

Unless they are born polled, all dairy cattle will grow horns. The horn bud attaches to the bone sometime between the first and second month of a calf's life. For that reason, the earlier disbudding or...

Hopes of drought relief are soaring in California these days, due to growing indications that wet El Niño conditions are coming to the West Coast this winter. Four years of low precipitation have...

Courtesy of their rumen microbes, cows produce and release methane. As a ruminant-based industry, it's a reality we cannot escape. It is estimated that a quarter of anthropogenic, or human-caused, methane...

Fonterra announced that it would reduce its 2015-2016 milk price forecast from $5.25 per kilogram of milk solids down to $3.85 (kgMS) in an August 7 announcement by the cooperative that markets over 90...

I saw the well-written article about Dr. Fred Foreman, "An eye for cows and a heart for teaching". I remember Dr. Foreman very well. I took his dairy course in 1957, plus or minus a bit. At one of our...

Just how much has our industry consolidated? It took only 12 counties to produce 25 percent of our nation's milk last December. By casting a slightly wider net, 56 counties were responsible for producing...

The newest promotion campaign by Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) is unlike anything milk producers have seen before. And many figure to not see this one either. That's because "The Udder Truth," launched...

Spoiled, sour milk leaves a bad taste in our consumers' mouths. Each negative product interaction they have leaves them a little less likely to return to the dairy case. But, what if we could ensure that...

German scientists recently discovered a haplotype that limits a Holstein calf's ability to digest cholesterol. In these instances, calves eventually deplete all fat reserves, including those found around...

The career of a milkman has gone a little more high-tech at one Arizona milk cooperative, and others across the country may soon be following suit. The United Dairyman of Arizona (UDA) first added automation...

Fluid milk isn't the only beverage category in a sales tailspin. While the 40-year downward trend in the fluid milk category is well documented, these days the once bustling carbonated soft drink category...