New Zealand has followed a similar economic trend to its biggest customer, supplier, and investor, Australia, and it hasn't been pretty. But New Zealand is now beginning to mimic Australia's resource-driven...
This past weekend, Fort Atkinson Wis., the home of Hoard's Dairyman, hosted the second annual Fort Atkinson Half-Marathon, with over 500 participants. Once again, the Barnyard Clovers, a local 4-H club...
We've talked about it before (see our blog, Wars we wage in dairy and agriculture and our editorial from the June 2011 issue, Keep chocolate milk in schools), but, like heat in the summer, the issue of...
The FFA is one of the nation's premier youth organizations and agriculture is blessed to have the organization training future leaders in our industry. The Washington Leadership Conference, one of the...
Of all the valiant efforts of diet and health do-gooders, trying to get flavored milks out of schools ranks among the most misguided. It is a classic example of an idea that glows with good intentions...
At the Hoard's Dairyman Farm . . . Watching feed costs and honing strategy Like most of you, our feeding strategy has been to trim costs while keeping the cows milking well, healthy, and breeding back...
Lowering the somatic cell count (SCC) limit has received a lot of press lately, but reducing SCC has many benefits for dairy producers regardless of regulations. Higher premiums and improved cow health...
It's just a tiny trickle so far, but solar power projects are slowly beginning to pop up on Western dairies. The latest one to begin generating electricity for the power grid is a big one, more than 200...
Last weekend several members of the Hoard's Dairyman staff had the opportunity to attend and volunteer at Cows on the Concourse on the square surrounding Madison's capitol building. A dedicated group of...
We've fine-tuned how we feed and handle cows in our newer facilities and changed our old facilities to meet the needs of our growing herd. Our initial plan going back to 2006 was to build two free stalls...
California took over as the largest U.S. dairy state in 1994 and for the last nine years has made more milk than No. 2 and No. 3 combined. For over 40 years, it thrived by embracing a business philosophy...
Birth Date Predictor Chart This handy hint was printed in the May 25, 2011 issue. I work at a local dairy farm. One of my jobs is sketching calves and registering them. In the process, I compare the service...
During the past week, several producers have approached me with information regarding potential feed ingredients to use as an alternative to corn. That is no surprise with corn prices soaring. Unfortunately,...
USDA finally appears ready to make a decision on national ID. According to the May 24, 2011, Wall Street Journal, "USDA wants every cow to have a unique numerical ID, stamped on an inexpensive ear tag...
While at the sixth annual AgSTAR conference last week, Jerry Bingold had plenty to announce. First, he explained all the initiatives that the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy was taking part in, and they...
Holstein Association USA recognizes the importance of identifying heritable, sometimes undesirable, unique genes in Holstein cattle, to provide breeders with the tools they need to make informed breeding...
Pennsylvania updates custom and rental rates Determining if a quoted custom rate is a fair price can be somewhat challenging especially with today's higher fuel costs. To help give all parties perspective...
If your herd could talk to you about their pen dynamics, what would they say? Would they compliment the soft, bedded freestalls, the wide alley ways, and the roominess of the feedbunk? Or would they be...
Hoard's Dairyman cow Judging Contest: 490s top Junior and Senior divisions. The winners placing in the top four or twelve in their respective divisions came from a remarkable eighteen states and one Canadian...
