I had the recent opportunity to team up with a milk cooperative adviser to provide assistance to a member farm. As I finished up and returned home, I sent a short text thanking her for the support. Sh

Many A.I. studs are now offering straws of semen that contain sperm from multiple bulls. To understand the potential advantage of a mixed, or “heterospermic,” A.I. dose, let’s review...

We all know that dairy farming is a challenging business under the best of circumstances. Hoyt Hill Farmstead has experienced additional stress over the past two years as Scott and Amber Hoyt have dea

In the cold weather, I wanted to plug in my pickup truck’s block heater, but I didn’t want a plug-in hanging out of the hood, so I made a bracket to screw the plug-in onto the front bumper....

Changing economics and shrinking margins on dairy’s home front have been a strong driver in herd demographics throughout the United States. When Hoard’s Dairyman partnered with the American...

let’s talk agronomy in the Feeding Fundamentals column to start this new year. While an agronomy discussion may seem out of place in a nutrition-focused column, it shouldn’t be. In last June’s...

We are approaching three years since the COVID-19 pandemic started. As the disease becomes endemic, we start to see the unintended consequences of control measures. While these measures saved lives, m

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) of 1938 is a federal law that created the right to a minimum wage as well as overtime pay when people work more than 40 hours a week. The federal minimum wage was 2

Antibiotics play a critical role in fighting bacterial infections in animals on our farms. Of course, many of these same medications also restore human health, and that is one of the reasons why certa

Staphylococci are the most prevalent bacteria isolated from bovine mammary secretions. In the past, we would call them CNS, as in coagulase-negative Staphylococci. However, another classification sche

One of the greatest blessings Duane and I received this year was during one of the most difficult times. My mother had been ill for a few years, so her passing was not a total surprise. Her 91-year-ol

Butterfat composition in the national bulk tank has been on a meteoric rise over the past decade. Before that, according to USDA data, butterfat levels held in a tight window of 3.65% to 3.69% from 19

The author is a professor emeritus at Virginia Tech and an independent dairy consultant with Down Home Heifer Solutions.Each farm must weigh the pros and cons of feeding milk or milk replacer in their...

Central Lakes College in Minnesota has a law enforcement training course that teaches young recruits to respond to emergency and nonemergency calls for service. This includes traffic enforcement dutie

I took a used container that originally held ice melting salt and now use it in our shop to put down Floor-Dry. The slotted top works very well for spreading this product. Shaun Coyne, New York

I recently ran into a person who told me she sets a “gratitude” alarm on her phone. Four times a day, her phone rings to alert her that it is time to be grateful.I was not quite sure how to...

To find small leaks in tires, make a mixture of water and liquid soap. Put the mixture in a squirt bottle and spray it all over the tire. The air leaking out will create bubbles with the soapy mixture

the last few years have created some of the most unpredictable financial situations we’ve seen. As we prepare for 2023, here are five considerations to make in your business planning. 1. Milk p

I still vividly remember my first farm call following vet school graduation many years ago! Lloyd had called the practice early on a sunny June morning. His message was one of distress.“One of my...

When it comes to global warming, all greenhouse gases tend to get lumped into the same bucket. In reality, certain gases behave differently, and that affects their impact on climate change. During the

The collective dairy industry leapt into action after USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack shared he was open to a proposal to modernize Federal Milk Marketing Orders. In the ensuing 11 months, hundreds of meet