Proposed 3-step reduction by 2014 would make U.S. standards among world's best. Somatic cells were perhaps the biggest news coming out of the joint annual meeting of National Dairy Board, National Milk...
Handy Hint: December 2010 Skid moves calves to heifer operation To help move calves across the road to their heifer operation, the Steve and Carl Ayers Family of Perryville, Ohio, designed this small calf...
This time of year, growers are under a lot of pressure to buy seed. Seed salesman pursue seed seed commitments through volume pricing and early purchase incentives even before the current year's yield...
Low milk prices caused these dairy producers to take a serious look at production costs, labor efficiency, and individual cow's profitability. The past two years have been challenging for many of us. Finding...
Handy Hint: November 2010 Cow Shower Clay McQuiddy, Mountain Grove, Mo., rigged an inexpensive cow shower for his pastures. He taped a 3/4-inch plastic polypipe to a 3/16-inch cable that loops over the...
Strong believers in genomics, the Pecks are performing embryo transfer on 7 to 10 individuals every two weeks. Since its introduction two years ago, genomics has dramatically changed dairy cattle breeding....
Producers have various opportunities to manage their risk. Exerting control requires that you know your breakeven income over feed cost (IOFC) and your milk margin breakeven
Handy Hint: October 25, 2010 Neck rails that give A local builder created a neck rail that has some extra give to it. As shown in the photo, the rail is mounted above the feed aisle and equipped with a...
Like the bump in the bottom of the peanut butter jar, some dairy products packaging reduces consumption but maintains manufacturer profits. That leaves producers with lower sales and income
Handy Hint: October 10, 2010 Colored buckets identify calf sex We have finally found an easy way to identify the sex of our calves when they are in hutches. Heifer calves are given a pink water bucket,...
[From A to Z] Sorting through your feed additive choices. Here's a look at feed additives and how they might fit your ration and your budget. Feed additives are ingredients added for a non-nutrient role
As a result of an unprecedented study, we know the carbon footprint required to produce one gallon of milk. Action plans are being developed to improve it. Prior to this decade, the words cows and carbon...
I received a call recently from a local dairy producer who wanted to talk about the recent death of a dairyman caused by silo gas. This was a very sincere phone call. He started out the conversation with,...
Member milk production among the top 50 co-ops remained fairly stable from 2008 to 2009, increasing a mere 22 million pounds from 150.669 billion to 150.721 billion. The top 50 cooperatives essentially...
Handy Hint: Sept 25, 2010 Easy access four-wheeler battery Rather than replacing the hard-to-reach battery that's under the fender on our farm four-wheeler, we made our own battery bracket by welding angle...
Change the breed or change breeds When it comes to famed Milking Shorthorn farms, there is none better than Innisfail Herds of Davis, Calif. After returning from the U.S. Army in the mid-50s, Stuart Rowe...
Check-in changes help check out health risks On each Friday before the official start of World Dairy Expo, the Alliant Energy Center instantly becomes home to one of the nation's largest dairy herds. Last...
Handy Hint: Jan 10, 2010 Recalibrated seeder saves time We decided to recalibrate our seeder so we wouldn't have to pour excess alfalfa seed into it. Additionally, we could ensure that we were getting...
Badger Pride team of Lorin and Linda Berge, left, farm with their son, Matthew, his wife, Jennifer, and their children, Otis and Caroline (not shown). A five-pen approach reduces social stress. Drover's...