Getting a firm handle on farm financials will be critical to long-term business success. If your operation needs to get up to speed, now would be a good time as milk prices are favorable by historic standards...
New dairy farm technologies were center stage at the Precision Dairy Conference last week. Just as cellphones are slowly phasing out landlines, some current mechanics and methods of operation on dairy...
Mastitis occurs in individual cows. Our control programs are designed for the whole herd. "The ideal system for recording clinical mastitis will allow the practitioner to evaluate important cow factors...
Jason Yurs has served as the Hoard's Dairyman Farm Manager since 2002. In this role, he oversees the daily operation of the nationally recognized Guernsey and Jersey herds. He trains and manages employees,...
Foot health impacts reproduction, production and early culling. Nigel Cook presented theHoard's Dairyman monthly webinar on Monday, May 13, 2013, entitled "No more lame excuses." Lameness prevalence has...
Earlier this week, we addressed Ryan Gosling's letter to NMPF (National Milk Producers Federation) in regards to the practice of dehorning (www.hoards.com/blog_dehorning-calves)
SECOND EDITION: Greatly expanded, this invaluable guide covers infectious and noninfectious diseases, now in two chapters. Diagnosis of upper leg lameness in calves through adult cattle is probably the...
Saturday night, our industry endured yet another tragic loss with the passing of a Northern Ireland dairy farmer and his two sons. The three died from effects of exposure to poisonous manure gases as sons...
Hoard's Dairyman Webinar Archives September 10, 2012: "Take your management to a higher level" presented by Gordie Jones, D.V.M. Jones shared strategies to identify and remove bottlenecks from your dairy
Gordie Jones, D.V.M. shared strategies to identify and remove bottlenecks from your dairy. He discussed organizing this review into daily, yearly and two-year cycles, as well as understanding the value...
Whether you are looking for tips on sand separation, thinking about using nitrification inhibitors or just looking for your next spreader, the North American Manure Expo was the place to be this morning
You may be facing challenges with the availability and expense of common bedding sources such as sawdust or the management of sand bedding. In recent years recycled manure solids have become a more prevalent...
The goal of silage face management is to minimize exposure to oxygen. In the presence of oxygen, yeast can metabolize lactic acid (a strong acid that keeps the silage pH low). When pH rises, undesirable...
Some good news came at year's end as Capitol Hill allowed two key ethanol subsidies to expire. That decision could have eased corn and soybean prices were it not for the 15.2-billion-gallon Renewable Fuel...
You can explain risk management and its potential benefits to milk producers all day long, but if they go away thinking it's too expensive or too complicated, then they probably won't try it. The dairy...
Management of the fresh cow during the first 21 days of lactation is a critical control point for maximizing health and productivity on all dairy farms. Identifying an off-feed fresh cow was a breeze when...
We drove through central and southern Illinois on the way to and from the joint American Association of Bovine Practitioners and National Mastitis Council meeting in St. Louis, Mo
Here's a quick dairy farming quiz: What three things do all dairies have a constant supply of? Some easy answers are cows, milk . . . and manure. All day and every day, manure never stops coming. The hard...
Imagine a world where spreading manure on a field doesn't also spread odor. Think about retaining 90 percent of the nutrient value of the manure once it is on the field. Is it possible? The staff at USDA's...
