We feed our cows through the side of a building. To protect the feed from snow, we cut a hay tarp in half and tied it to the side of the building. We lay tire sidewalls on the tarp to hold it in place

A few months ago, something caught my eye. One of our older cows calved with a nice heifer calf, and a day or so later, the cow’s daughter calved as a first-calf heifer

Light at the end of the tunnel.” “This too shall pass.” “Keep your head up.” “Hang in there.” These are common phrases in the current dairy climate

Imagine being told you can’t sell your milk, you can’t market your cows, and the water on your land is contaminated with a slowly degrading man-made chemical

Pasteurization has been shown to limit these food-related risks; pasteurized milk has fewer harmful bacteria such as Listeria, salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter, and parasites such as Cryptosporidium....

Even though I hung my electric fencer on the wall in the pole shed, a heavy rainstorm blew water through the eaves, causing a short. I cut out the top and one side of a 2 1/2-gallon oil drum and place

My father would have turned 79 years old at the end of last month. He is missed daily. Those that knew him, knew his laughter and his big smile

It’s not only the financial statements of many dairies that seem to be on life support this winter and in need of intervention

The name Schoene Kuh Dairy is more than just a breeder prefix for young farmer Staci Sexton. Irish Ridge was established in 1858 before Minnesota became a state. Since 2013, Sexton has been building her...

Of all the challenges we face with managing employees, one of the largest has to be the simple fact that a large portion of them have a limited ability to speak English

Genomic evaluations were first released to dairy producers a decade ago. The genomic revolution has changed a lot when it comes to dairy selection programs

The business of milking cows has certainly consolidated. Just because there are fewer dairy farms does not mean that there is not room for young people who want to milk cows as a career

The dramatic climb in the use of winter grains for very high-quality forage, which also protects the environment in a sustainable manner, has opened a new forage rotation window of opportunity

When we move calves into pens with headlocks, sometimes they are hesitant to use them. We started to hook their old grain buckets on the headlocks to encourage them to eat. We also took

One thing I have always admired about my husband, Duane, is his ability to run a meeting smoothly and effortlessly. Orchestrating a boardroom is a skill he learned while participating on the FFA

I’m a little ashamed to admit how long it’s taken me to write this article. I’m even more ashamed to admit that I’m too scared to tell you the whole story, but I promise you that...

Fat is back, and that should have all of us rethinking how we track performance benchmarks. By reshaping our thought process, we will better match the milk sold off our farm to consumer

It’s powerful when the U.S. dairy industry comes together to discuss how we can work together to lead dairy forward,” shared Michael Dykes, CEO and president of the International Dairy Foods...

Saying yes can take you places, and this was certainly the case for me. Last fall, I was asked to travel to Germany. In mid-November, I headed overseas with the German American Chamber of Commerce

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law. This historic act is the single biggest change in tax law in over 40 years