Calves need more energy in cold weather just to stay alive. Welcome to November; it's officially "that time of year" again. Even if snow isn't a normal part of winters where you dairy, colder temperatures...

A pair of Hoard's West articles titled "California's pricing system is killing its dairies" were the center of a discussion initiated by a longtime California dairy industry leader. In this man's opinion,...

Latest price hike denial should be the final straw for producers.One of Albert Einstein's famous quotes is, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." It's a madness...

Intensive management nets an extra $35 per heifer, without considering the value of additional milk. Replacement heifers have long been viewed as a two-year economic sinkhole. "While heifer programs usually...

If a trade pact between Canada and the European Union gains approval, our neighbors to the north would be subject to double the current cheese imports from Europe. The deal would be one small component...

Buy land, build a plant and start processing milk, right? Ha! Every state, county and city likes to claim it is "business friendly" in hopes of attracting new companies and the economy-sustaining jobs...

The Old West code is long gone; $5,000 fines are the new law. The Old West of cowboy lore is a distant thing of the past, yet plenty of critters are still being rustled on dairies, farms and ranches across...

That expensive ultrasound unit you're thinking about getting has more value than you may realize. Confirming pregnancies isn't all you can do with on-farm ultrasound devices, say researchers at the University...

by Corey Geiger, Hoard's Dairyman Managing Editor 2013 Merle Howard Award winner: Cassy Krull A three-breed award winner equally well known in Red and White, Holstein and Jersey circles, Cassy Krull has...

130 teams compete for top honors The largest dairy judging contest at World Dairy Expo is not the 4-H, college or post-secondary contest – it's the FFA Dairy Cattle Judging Contest. This year, 130...

A faster approach to growing the polled dairy cattle population is the exciting result of new research from the University of Minnesota. There, scientists discovered a modified gene editing system that...

Labor cost impact on dairies is expected to be minimal, but suppliers are another matter. California is on track to have the highest minimum wage in the U.S., after Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill September...

Rearing costs are high, but calving heifers too early may adversely impact lifetime milk production. by Abby (Huibregtse) Bauer, Hoard's Dairyman Associate Editor The earlier a heifer enters the milking...

Chipotle has struck again. Its recent release of the cartoon video "Scarecrow" coincides with the launch of an iPhone game that sets modern agriculture in a rather gloomy light. Yet, while the company...

State Legislature unanimously passes resolution calling for an end to the federal ethanol mandate. Using food to make fuel has found a distasteful audience among California politicians. Last week, a resolution...

Small-herd farms in California's central valley could be wiped out by new environmental regulations targeting wastewater ponds that are expected to be adopted as early as this year by the Central Valley...

By getting to know the parts of a calf's respiratory "engine," farms are better equipped to troubleshoot breakdowns in defense. "It's tough to fix an engine until you know how it works. The same is true...

Calves housed in groups will eat according to their daily pattern. Producers have options for ad libitum, or free access feeding, as shared by the July 2013 William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute...

Favorable feed cost outlook sets the stage for herd rebuilding to begin this fall. The fatal production problem that has driven many dairy producers out of business in recent years – sky-high feed...

Hoard's Dairyman Webinar Archives July 8, 2013: "Playing the crop-year cards we've been dealt" presented by Mike Hutjens, University of Illinois Brought to you by Biotal Forage Inoculants (www.qualitysilage.com)...