In recent months, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved both a genetically modified animal and vegetable that could be consumed by people. As expected, some groups are outraged by the thought...
In some cases, averages can be misleading. That would certainly be true when looking at the average U.S. dairy herd size. These days, the average (mean) U.S. dairy herd has 144 milk cows. That total was...
As printed in our April 25, 2016 issue... MILK MARGINS COULD SHRINK further, reported NMPF analysts. After spending the final third of 2015 well above the Margin Protection Program's (MPP-Dairy) payout...
Those in farming circles know more about the value of vaccines than almost every human population demographic. That's because we know vaccines thwart a wide variety of diseases by developing and invoking...
California isn't the only major dairy region dealing with water woes. Australia has its issues, too. And as the world's fourth-largest dairy product exporter, short supplies of water could further curtail...
Just over 3,600 bulls were declared active by A.I. marketing organizations. Of those sires, 2,795 were Holsteins, 540 were Jerseys, and the remaining 277 bulls could be found in nine other breeds. For...
As a zoonotic disease, tuberculosis can infect both people and cattle. That also means that tuberculosis can cross back and forth from humans to cows. Unfortunately, these days, if a cow contracts tuberculosis,...
While the breed-changing demand involves chickens, it does illustrate the changing tide among retailers and consumers alike. It also puts recent dairy controversies such as tail docking into clearer perspective....
There is mounting evidence that today's parents are quite simply . . . neat freaks. Our modern-day zeal to utilize products that kill microbes might be counterproductive, even detrimental, to developing...
Proximity to plants and competition have a number of benefits. For dairy farmers in Wisconsin, Minnesota and bordering states, those positive attributes include low hauling costs that even continued through...
Overall, 94 percent of dairy cows come from two breeds - Holstein or Jersey. That's according to data collected by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in its recent Dairy 2014. The comprehensive,...
"Do you have an article, chart or documentation that shows the relationship between somatic cell count (SCC) to dairy product shelf life?" That was a thoughtful question poised by a Hoard's Dairyman...
Legislation to curtail on-farm hidden camera investigations . . . often dubbed ag-gag legislation . . . can be counterproductive. That's according to research spearheaded by the University of British Columbia....
Check that dipstick. Or more likely, check that milk house floor and make adjustments to the pedestals on the bulk tank to ensure that milk weights are accurate. That's one message gleaned from an ongoing...
Dairy farmers reaped the largest share of the retail food dollar since the turn of the century, according to data from USDA's Economic Research Service. In making that calculation, economists poured through...
The once steady growth in milk quality has become stagnant. After dropping by nearly 100,000 cells per milliliter from 2005 to 2012, somatic cell counts (SCC) have leveled off near 200,000 over the past...
Let's be clear . . . every glass of milk, every slice of cheese, and all dairy products for that matter are antibiotic free. It doesn't matter whether it's produced on an organic or conventional dairy...
Expect big things from U.S. dairy over the next decade. That would definitely be one take away from USDA's recent USDA Agricultural Projections to 2025, released in mid-February. For starters, the federal...
Only 1,225 dairy herds across the United States called it quits last year. Based on sheer dairy farm numbers, that represented the lowest total since 1992. That's the year, the American Farm Bureau Federation,...
"To predict the global economy, focus on the top 20 countries," said Jeffrey Rosensweig, director of the Gouizueta Business School of Emory University. In making that statement, he alluded to the fact...
