Spring means alfalfa scouting and corn planting. Gear up for another year

National Siblings Day happens to coincide with the passing of my brother, Pat. He was killed in a car accident on April 10, 1996, at the age 29

Harvard is at it again. Decades ago, elite professors lined up to endorse Ancel Keys’ fabricated notions involving the diet-heart hypothesis and lipid hypothesis. One claimed cholesterol consumption

2019 Hoard's Dairyman Cow Judging Contest - Brown Swiss Class

2019 Hoard's Dairyman Cow Judging Contest - Milking Shorthorn Class

As humans, we all experience stress from time to time. I would bet nearly everyone utters the words, “I am so stressed out” now and then

Just about everyone in the dairy industry knows the biggest U.S. dairy states — California and Wisconsin. However, what about the smallest?

When every dollar counts, milkfat and protein levels in milk are extremely valuable in maximizing income over feed costs (IOFC)

When it comes to the new Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, I want to make sure dairy farmers and their lenders know what the point of the program is

The April 2019 Hoard’s Dairyman Bull List can be downloaded. The list includes the top bulls for Holsteins, Jerseys, Brown Swiss, Red and White Holsteins, Guernseys, Ayrshires, and Milking Shorthorns

Having eyes on your parlor all the time doesn’t sound like a bad thing

Every week, one member of the Hillcrest Farms team will choose a quote to write on the whiteboard in our office for all to see. The quotes can range from Bible verses, inspirational quotes, or even just...

We created a holder for the stickers used by the milk hauler to label bulk tank samples. We took a 2-inch pipe, cut it 6-inches long, and cut out a little opening for the stickers to be pulled out. We

My daffodils are fully blooming in the yard and baseball practice starts today. Ready or not, it’s safe to say that spring has finally arrived

Last week, I officially shed the winter coat and put it away. I’m not talking away, away because I’ve now lived in Wisconsin long enough to understand that sometimes April will pretend to be...

Earlier this month, my daughter Cassie's basketball team had their first loss. It was a tough loss

There are so many things I’m ignorant about. Home renovations, for example. No matter how many times I watch "Fixer Upper," I still have no idea how to flip a house

Benchmarking is a great tool to have in the financial analysis toolbox. Comparing your farm business to successful peers is a powerful means to learn where your operation is doing well

We finally placed two robots in our new main robot barn this week. A little over two years ago at the Western Dairy Management Conference, I was sitting at a table talking to two dairymen from Wisconsin

Pasteurization has been shown to limit these food-related risks; pasteurized milk has fewer harmful bacteria such as Listeria, salmonella, E. coli, and Campylobacter, and parasites such as Cryptosporidium....