Animal rights group is doing massive spin doctoring and distortion to oppose it. A bill that would make it illegal to trespass or use fraudulent misrepresentation to gain entry onto a farm for the purpose...
New dairy cattle evaluation educational book contains over 90-plus color photos comparing each trait. Understanding linear evaluation enhances every dairy farmer's ability to make better decisions for...
The problems with the public perception of GMOs are difficult to deal with, as noted in the February 17 Hoard's Dairyman Intel item, "Food E-Vangelists don't want truth on GMOs." As the article says, it...
Healthy cows with healthy hooves are the most productive and efficient in a robotic milking system. "Healthy feet are critical in a robot milking situation," said Jack Rodenburg from DairyLogix Consulting...
"If we took the best haplotypes (genes) from all the cows genomic tested to date, we would have a cow at $7515 Net Merit," said Paul Van Raden with USDA's Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory
Handy Hint: February 25, 2014 Great replacement for shoelaces My shoelaces always break due to extreme conditions around the farm, so I use weed whacker replacement string instead
"If you don't want to graze your cows, at least consider rotationally grazing your heifers." That was the advice given by Larry Tranel, Iowa State Extension Dairy Specialist, at an Iowa Dairy Days meeting...
"You need science. But you never win debates on science, you win them by appealing to emotions." That recent quote from Larry Jensen, President and CEO of Leprino Foods Company, sums up the issue at hand...
Slowly but surely, legitimate scientific groups are pushing back against questionable research and the agenda messages they peddle to consumers through a clueless media. It's a trend that farmers probably...
Dairy cows, particularly Holsteins, are slowly declining in conception rate. It's a decades-old trend that robs profitability from milk producers and threatens the long-term viability of the dairy industry
Dairy quotas in the European Union end in March 2015, and onetime export heavyweight Ireland is anxious to rejoin the global marketplace. It is a nation with a long history of low-cost milk production,...
Cows spend their days doing core activities, like sleeping and eating, and luxury activities, like playing and exploring. Luxury activity will decline when time or energy resources are limited during stress...
This year marks the 50-year anniversary of President Johnson's "War on Poverty". Although he first discussed it in a January 1964 speech, the first food assistance program didn't become law until August...
Digital dermatitis, commonly known as hairy heel warts, is a major cause of lameness on dairy farms. Digital dermatitis was identified in the early 1970s, came to the U.S. in the 1980s and has been a management...
The rosy potential for dairy industry growth that first attracted California-based Hilmar Cheese Co. to Texas nearly a decade ago is already becoming reality. As and it does, the company's state-of-the-art...
Handy Hint: January 25, 2014 55-gallon drum makes packing weight A number of years ago, Larry Baer of Marshallville, Ohio, created this weight to help ensure proper packing density in his corn silage bunker....
Typically, inflammation of any kind is considered to be a bad sign, a response to some sort of injury or disease. In the case of dairy cattle, inflammation of the udder is most often associated with mastitis....
The Hoard Farm team headed up by Jason Yurs continues to be pleased with the performance of young sires' daughters. On December 13, a number of young bulls had daughters either scored for the first time...
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...
