Reader Response: Comments on "Brexit" News publications such as Hoard's Dairyman can only print what they know to be true at press deadline. By now we all know that the reaction to "Brexit" was short-term...
What is the national cull rate? Cull rates are one of the bellwethers of herd health. However, herd health and dairy cow removal aren't the only factor that drives cull rates . . . the inventory of herd...
Two options: Reduce milk flow or grow sales. The author is a research assistant extension professor in the department of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Missouri. There are two...
The parlor isn't the place for treatment. National Animal Health Monitoring System data from 2014 indicated that 90 percent of farms use intramammary antibiotics to treat mastitis. According to Pamela...
Dairy farmers have lost retail market share. Dairy farmers' share of what consumers pay for dairy products at the grocery store plummeted to a mere 29 percent in 2015 after reaching 38 percent just one...
Feeding the best possible ration to your herd takes true teamwork between the farmer and nutritionist. I have other dairy farmers ask me questions about the analysis of the rations we feed at our farm....
Welfare and economics must both play a role in determining how many cows fill a barn. One size does not fit all. There are many areas on the farm to which this saying readily applies. One of the most pertinent...
Light: Milk's greatest enemy? Freshness is one of the most important sensory gauges of milk quality. When we talk about providing a fresh product, dairy farmers focus on things like high solids and low...
Dairy co-op's tombstone reads 1894 to 2016. Although it's been in a vegetative coma since March 31, 2008, the dairy co-op's official death notice, representing its last legal business day, will read June...
As caretakers of animals . . . whether farm animals or companion animals . . . we often face tough decisions. When an animal is ill or injured, it's our great responsibility to decide if we can to save...
During a 20-year span, the number of small dairy farms in our ranks has dropped dramatically. And with it, where our cows reside has changed, too. That situation was detailed in the April 25 Hoard's Dairyman...
For farms struggling to find enough employees or looking for more flexibility in their daily routine, robotic milking systems have become an intriguing option
Hoard's Dairyman Webinar Archives June 13, 2016: Barn design for robotic milking presented by Jack Rodenburg Brought to you by: Lely (www.lelyna.com) The ideal robotic milking barn optimizes cow comfort...
tightest belts can be found in New ZealanSliding milk prices have caused dairy farmers to tighten their financial belts. The d, the world's largest dairy product exporter. by Hoard's Dairyman staff The...
Some feed efficiency factors are easy to overlook. DaireXnet article dove into a few of the feed efficiency factors that have an impact on farm economics, but are not always top of the mind the others...
"One thing that I am a little ticked about . . . we had 17 Republicans and a handful of Democrats running for President, and I don't know of any one of them who has mentioned the farmer, the rancher, the...
The Missouri dairy industry has been in a long-term, steady decline. In the early 1980s, Missouri ranked No. 11 nationally in milk production. By 2015, the Show Me state's ranking declined to No. 25. Dairy...
Consumers will not hear what we have to say about the dairy industry unless we take the initiative and find ways to tell them. "To the consumer, our story doesn't exist unless we tell it." Dairy farmers...
Why evaporative cooling methods fit well on our farm. Growing up in the hot Kansas heat made it difficult to keep cows cool during the warmer summer months. When we decided to make modifications to our...
