As printed in our March 10, 2014 issue... THE ICONIC "GOT MILK?" CAMPAIGN was shuttered by the national Milk Processor Education Program, or MilkPEP, as it launched a new tagline, "Milk Life." First utilized...
Maybe it was the inch or so of rain that had fallen during the previous several days, or maybe the perpetual optimism that goes with being a farmer of any kind. Either way, there was no panic about the...
As printed in our February 25, 2014 issue... THE FARM BILL BECAME LAW in just 10 days. On January 29, it passed the House on a 251 to 166 vote. Then, the Senate approved it, 68 to 32. The President signed...
As printed in our February 10, 2014 issue... U.S. MILK OUTPUT ROSE 0.4 PERCENT to reach 201.2 billion pounds in 2013 compared to the previous year, according to initial USDA estimates. COW NUMBERS WERE...
Fresh, available drinking water is essential for healthy, high-producing dairy cows. A 1,500-pound lactating dairy cow consumes approximately 25 to 35 gallons of water per day. Drinking water meets 80...
An 11-year-old Pennsylvanian author depicts the basics of dairying on his family's farm in his first book. by Amanda Smith, Hoard's Dairyman Associate Editor For many, the thought of writing a book of...
As printed in our January 25, 2014 issue... U.S. DAIRY EXPORTS SET A NEW RECORD with one month yet to be tallied in 2013. The 11-month total of $6.1 billion and 15.6 percent of total milk solids passed...
As printed in our January 10, 2014 issue... PAY PROJECTIONS STRENGTHENED through November and December trading as Class III futures rose over $1.80 to nearly an $18.70 average for January to June contracts....
Environmental alarm bells are ringing loudly in New Zealand and its growing dairy cow population is at the front of mounting public awareness about the potential of water pollution
Caring for others starts by caring for yourself. I recently received a newsletter from a charity that helps parents cope with children with Niemann-Pick Disease, a terminal illness. It listed 12 ways to...
By improving heat detection efficiency, reducing heat detection errors and honing our inseminating skills, we can get more heifers bred. When it comes to heifer fertility, reproductive experts say to focus...
As printed in our December 2013 issue... ECONOMIC INDICATORS ARE POINTING UP for most key dairy measures. December to May Class III milk futures climbed $1.10 from early November trading. Those six contracts...
As printed in our November 2013 issue... FARM BILL NEGOTIATIONS finally got out of the starting gate on October 30 as the Senate and House conference committees delivered public comments. The next step...
U.S. farmers and ranchers aren't the only aging workforce. It's a nation wide trend across all labor sectors. The U.S. farm population is aging. This isn't news to anyone in the agricultural community;...
Because it has been so widely quoted, we have become numb to what was once a sobering statistic: we will need to feed 9 billion people by 2050. For many, this is not a reality we can easily wrap our heads...
Agriculture has made great strides in reducing nutrient movement from our farm fields even though the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relentlessly aims for tighter standards. From our vantage point,...
As printed in our October 25, 2013 issue... ROUTINE USDA REPORTS have gone unpublished since the October 1 government shutdown. Crop Progress, Dairy Market News and Dairy Products were not released as...
As printed in our October 10, 2013 issue... THE HOUSE PASSED THE FOOD PORTION of its farm bill. Now, the nutrition title can be married to the 11 previously passed farm components. After that, the House...
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...
