For the second straight year, California's cost to produce milk jumped over 10 percent. Nearly all the higher costs were due to higher feed prices. Rising feed costs were the root cause of the higher costs...
Among the 504 dairy farms in the Northeast Dairy Farm Summary, the net cost of production was $18.23, up 12 cents from 2011. The cost to produce 100 pounds of milk rose for the third straight year for...
Few things can irritate a person like finding out they overpaid for a product or did not sell their own for its true value. In the April 8 Hoard's Dairyman "Reviewing forage and feed costs – What's...
Hoard's Dairyman Webinar Archives April 8, 2013: "Reviewing forage and feed costs – What's fair?" presented by Mike Hutjens, University of Illinois Brought to you by Kemin (www.kemin.com/getmore)...
Discussing the ideal size for a cow can be a contentious topic. Some prefer large cows because their udders are further from the ground which makes milking easier in a tie stall setting, and of course...
Guess which costs more: far away by ship or close by truck? Milk-cow-quality alfalfa hay is already over $300 per ton in California which isn't making this a fun summer for dairy producers there. An article...
The article on page 536 of the August 25, 2011 issue discusses costs of raising replacement heifers. It describes both the cash and accrual methods of accounting for heifer values. The figure here is an...
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...
The Milk-Feed Price Ratio for February was 1.96. That is the pounds of a 16 percent-protein complete ration we could purchase with 1 pound of milk. The ratio for last February was 2.36, higher largely...
Do you remember what it was like in 2008 . . . when corn and other feed costs were really high, but the milk price also was quite high? Well, I think that 2011 is going to feel a lot like that except without...
The tally is between $304 and $354 per case. Incidence rates can run 20 percent or higher. Most of us have had the unpleasant experience of dealing with a case of metritis. The foul smell and watery uterine...
Now that the tax filing season is complete, farm accounting reports are beginning to be compiled and distributed to the dairy world. Those reports only quantify what we already know, 2009's losses were...
