Any way you slice it, Americans enjoy the safest and most abundant food supply in the world. The cherry on top of the ice cream sundae is that American farmers produce that food for our fellow countrymen...
Fall is in the air, and so is the reminder that day-to-night temperature swings are becoming more extreme. They pose a health threat to calves that makes it important to carefully reexamine the quality...
Milk is not alone in losing market share. Soda and orange juice are some other long-time beverage giants that have fielded sputtering national sales totals in recent years. Domestic milk consumption fell...
Enrollment for New Dairy Farm Risk Management Program to Begin Sept. 2 USDA Launches New Web Tool to Help Producers Manage Unforeseen Economic Challenges Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced...
This year's ongoing national debate about minimum wage levels from state to state should remind everyone in the dairy industry that there is nothing minimum about how much workers on their farms typically...
This volatile business of milking cows has rewarded many of its caretakers with handsome returns. We always must remember this is a business demands a great deal of capital, planning, time and good old-fashioned...
Paris, a 16-year-old Brown Swiss, has set a new record for lifetime pounds of protein and fat produced by a cow in the United States. There is a lot of black and white at Henry Dairy Farms, but a quick...
A few clicks of my heels and a quick 11-hour drive, and I will be back on my flat, home turf of Kansas, enjoying 100-plus degree temperatures and humidity
There are just six more weeks until the start of World Dairy Expo, and many eyes are curiously watching the progress of the new pavilions at the Alliant Energy Center
Handy Hint: August 25, 2014 Keep vaccination supplies handy We created a belt that makes vaccinating calves easier. We took a carpenter apron and riveted three PVC clamps to the belt. Then we cut a PVC...
New practices have been put into place to make the nation's favorite form of beef safer than ever. Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced updated...
"Do not compare proven sires PTAs to genomic PTAs. Only compare them within their contemporaries for rankings," cautioned Chad Dechow when presenting "The new world of genetics" during the monthly Hoard's...
Of North Dakota's 18,000 dairy cows, one stands head and shoulders above the rest. That's because she is 38 feet tall, 50 feet long and weighs in at 12,000 pounds. Her name is Salem Sue, and she has the...
Beef prices remain at record highs, in part, because the U.S. has the smallest combined beef and dairy herd since 1951. While it's true there were only 87.7 million head of cattle on inventory this past...
Multiple component pricing has the potential to raise the value of producer milk in the pool. The magnitude of the increase will depend on the solids-nonfat and utilization of milk in manufacturing classes
While all the research conducted by the world's animal scientists is geared towards building a better agricultural system, it's important for everyone to remember that ultimately our number one goal is...
The National Holstein Convention Panel in Dubuque, Iowa (L to R): Brent Schuler, Diesel Hitt, John Meyer, Jeff Brantmeier, Dan Bolin and Ashley Abbott. by Corey Geiger, Managing Editor "Have a vision for...
At $1,970 each, replacement prices have shot up $530 on average since the first of the year, according to data published in USDA's Agricultural Prices. That is the highest value since July of 2008 when...
What a crazy, incredible turnaround. Huge 2014 crop outlooks in the U.S. and other major grain-producing countries have destroyed the high prices for feed grains that made life so painful for anyone with...
Comfortable cows or easily maintained manure systems. It seems like many dairy producers feel they must choose between one or the other. Sand has a strong reputation for enhancing cow comfort and lowering...
