The author is an associate editor. She covers feeding and nutrition,
youth activities and heads up the World Dairy Expo Supplement. Maggie
was raised on a 150-cow dairy near Valley Center, Kansas, and graduated
from Kansas State University with degrees in agricultural communications
and animal sciences.
When heifer inventories are considered, an often-overlooked impact of a smaller heifer inventory is a need to take a closer look at culling rates in the lactating herd
With heifer prices dropping to modern-day record lows in the last several years, many farms have been faced with the question of what to do with extra heifers that aren’t bound for their lactating...
Along with nearly every industry in the country, dairy has welcomed robotic technologies and artificial intelligence into the workplace in hopes of stemming labor shortages
In dairy’s labor availability crisis, many farms have focused on doing a great job of training whether they are hiring someone with limited or extensive experience
Individual calf housing is by far the most common form of calf rearing in the country. According to research done by the University of Wisconsin in 2019, 77% of farms raise calves individually
Wagner Farms in Oconto Falls, Wis., had a 0% death loss in their calves last year. For anyone that has worked with animals, this is the ultimate goal, but sometimes incredibly difficult to achieve
One of the most challenging roles of the feeding team is to track and account for feed as it goes through the feeding center and into the bunk. In order to do this, it’s important to test, track,...
“With 60 to 65 percent of the milk check going towards feeding/feed costs, this has a huge impact on farm profitability,” explained Leatherbrook Holsteins’ Adam Graft
The “high-forage diet” has gained great momentum throughout the last decade as farms commit to growing more of their own feeds rather than purchasing them
Over the course of the last few decades, huge strides have been made in the realm of udder health, and specifically, in managing somatic cell counts and contagious mastitis pathogens
The median farm household income is forecasted to average $76,191 in 2019. That’s an improvement of 5.1 percent from 2018 levels and 3.2 percent better when adjusted for inflation
Just like stress in humans, stress in cows isn’t like other diseases we treat. Instead of being diagnosed the cow is sick or the cow is not, stress is something that amasses as one stress piles on...
The preweaning period of a calf’s life is not only important for its health and growth down the road, it’s also indicative of its behavior and ability to adapt to new situations
Although final year-end milk production and dairy farm numbers are not yet in, 2019 predictably is shaping up to virtually zero growth in milk production
