Let’s be honest, Mother Nature can be one of a dairy farmer’s worst enemies. The unpredictable power and ability to literally make or break us, gives us a great amount of respect
Some 350 of the top Handy Hints submitted by Hoard's Dairyman readers over the last 10 years. You're bound to find great ideas for saving time and money! Conveniently organized into categories of Housing,...
Heat hits reproduction hard. A drop in feed intake and loss of milk yield are some of the immediate impacts hot weather can have on a dairy herd, but the aftermath of steamy summer days can last long into...
Is your tank half full or running on fumes? Some of us prepare ahead, others act in the moment; both modes of operation can fit certain aspects of a dairy. It never fails; when my wife and I go on a road...
Custom hire is a smart business decision for our farm. While my husband and I milked our cows last night, a swather zipped through our fields, mowing down our first crop of alfalfa, along with the triticale...
by Corey Geiger, Managing Editor While dairy cows are nearly exclusive contributors to the U.S. milk supply (goats, sheep, and water buffalo contribute miniscule levels of milk), dairy breeds also contribute...
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...
No statistic may be more telling than the fact that 3.41 percent of the dairies produce 50 percent of the milk in the Central Federal Milk Marketing Order. This proportion has tightened significantly since...
Front row (L to R): Jennifer May, Anna Rodas with Olivia and Easton, Macklen Fee and Bob DiCarlo. Back row: John Brown, Greg Guinan, Kevin Moore and John Knopf. "Milk price has no bearing on how we administer...
A unique partnership was born in 1999 when Jake and Saskia Zwemmer approached a group of crop farmers in the thumb of Michigan. The Zwemmers wanted to focus their talents on cow care and buy forages from...
A clean environment, adequate cow comfort and footbath use all bolster your ability to prevent digital dermatitis. Lameness affects everything a cow does. Feed intake, fertility, milk production and, in...
Of the 154,418 individuals employed on U.S. dairies, slightly more than half are of immigrant origin, noted David Anderson with Texas A&M. "In the last five years, dairy has become more reliant on an immigrant...
National-winning FFA Dairy Judging Coach talks about preparing a non-traditional dairy judging team. "This was an extremely hard-working bunch of kids," commented coach Bland Baird. His dairy judging program...
Animal welfare is at the forefront of consumers' minds and at the core of dairy producers' businesses. Happy cows come from California or Wisconsin or wherever. Whatever your opinion is as to where the...
Focus on identification and management to diminish heel wart prevalence. I can remember the first time we detected digital dermatitis, also referred to as hoof warts or hairy heel warts, in my family's...
Three Canadians rose to the top It lasted hours, but the rewards were great for three outstanding young people. Three divisions of youth participated in the showmanship contest at World Dairy Expo
USDA slightly cuts its average bushels per acre forecast. Across the U.S., cornfields are clearing out and silage bunkers are filling fast. And as they do, USDA has slightly changed its mind about just...
"Too wet, too dry and just right," Goldilocks would say when evaluating corn silage, with just right being our goal! Growing high-yielding, high-quality corn is only half the battle when it comes to silage...
With the aid of finger paints, Stephanie Arndt and Pandora the Painted Cow are making dairy approachable for youth. Children and adults alike in central New York are learning where their favorite dairy...
