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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
We needed a more reliable way to thaw and heat colostrum, so I took a 15-gallon plastic barrel and cut it to the correct height so the heating element wouldn’t touch the bottom
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
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....
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...
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,...
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...
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
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
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’...
On our silage bunkers, we bolt 2-foot pieces of 1” by 4” boards using concrete anchors every 12 feet to hold down the vapor barrier plastic. This way, the wind can’t get a hold of it,...
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...
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
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