Handy Hint: October 25, 2012 Caps Identify Colostrum Quality We use half-gallon jugs to store colostrum on our farm. Using a 2-liter soda crate to hold the jugs upright in a freezer, we can quickly identify...

Is it getting more difficult to successfully A.I. breed dairy cows? That was the question posed by colleagues in a scholarly review of research and history involving A.I. breeding of dairy cows. What follows...

Dairy industry veterans have long memories. Many in our industry have weathered a number of economic storms that took place in 2002, 2006, 2009 and now 2012. Whether comparing income-over-feed costs or...

The United States has maintained a commodity market focus. But by studying New Zealand's Fonterra Cooperative, we see that entering the value-added market could provide combined advantages

Handy Hint: October 10, 2012 Tote Bag Unloaded We used to have a lot of problems unloading heavy tote bags full of supplements. This plugged the augers and spilled when it was windy. I took an empty teat...

Grandma Hardesty gave us the pennies from her purse. We dutifully divided them equally, even with the cousins not present, and saved them in our piggy banks. A few times a year, our banks were heavy enough...

We know that dairy cows and rumen microbes do not have an actual starch requirement. Rather, rumen microbes require adequate fermentable carbohydrates (starch, sugars, soluble fiber and digestible fiber)...

Making more milk is not the answer as the law of diminishing returns kicks in this year. As commodity prices continue their ascent, evaluate whether your herd's production level can offset the cost of...

Handy Hint: September 25, 2012 Vapor lock saves feed To prevent grain from spoiling on the concrete floor of my calf shed, I made a vapor barrier by laying 2-inch treated lumber down and fastening a piece...

Not long ago the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known to most of us as food stamps, was the political grease that encouraged urban legislators to vote for the farm bill

Make parlor trips peaceful Two or three times a day, free stall herds move cows from their home pen to the holding pen. By keeping a routine and using cows' natural tendencies, we can keep the trips low...

Sampling rumen fluid from fistulated cows is part of the routine at the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center in Wisconsin. The center has need for a unit for intensive nutrition. Flat or down pretty much...

Handy Hint: September 10, 2012 Move six calves at once This device was built to move calves from the calf barn to the heifer barn safely and easily. The device is built from plywood, 2- by 2-inch tubing,...

The primary focus of USDA's Animal Improvement Program Laboratory (AIPL) has been conducting research. I think our nation's budget mess has sharpened that focus to some extent and put routine genetic evaluations...

With few exceptions, price trends have been in synch. by Calvin Covington The author is a consultant and retired Dairy Cooperative CEO. Common questions I received from dairy farmers over the years include:...

I grew up on a dairy where all the employees had the same last name and, except for Grandma, all lived in the same house. It was the same for most of the dairies I worked with for many years in practice....

Handy Hint: August 25, 2012 Jetter cups change bulbs On our farm, safety and time are always concerns. To save time and be safe changing lightbulbs over our straw packs, we took an old jetter cup and taped...

At the beginning of the year, forecasts indicated lower milk prices for the first half of the year but a nice recovery for the second half. So far milk prices have been lower . . . lower than many forecasted...

More than 60 percent of the United States has been affected by drought. In many of these water-deprived states, forage is needed for dairy herds. Good management of moisture-stressed forages can optimize...

In the past two months, our editorial travels have taken us through the heart of the Corn Belt. Our personal observations match USDA's recent assessment which indicates our nation's corn crop is in critical...

Handy Hint: August 10, 2012 Counter replaces silage scale We found this manual counter very useful to keep track of loads of silage when a scale is not always en route from field to pile. We weigh a couple...