As printed in our December 2015 issue... CLASS III FUTURES FELL BY $1.60 for December to May contracts since June trading. With a $14.90 average for the six-month window, half of the price reduction in...
Carolyn Gibbs, DMI; Greg Wickham, Chairman of Newtrient; Steve Rowe, CEO of Newtrient; and Paul Rovey, Chairman DMI. "Are we going to be victims, or will we set the stage on nutrient management?" That...
On the road to preservation, silage goes through four phases: aerobic, fermentation, storage and, finally, feedout. During the anaerobic phase, the crop uses up sugars and protein while it respires. At...
Yes, it's true. The menu at McDonald's has the potential to get a little cheesier. If it receives positive customer feedback in a trial market, mac and cheese may become the next dairy-centered addition...
What is "normal" anymore? The start of each new year brings uncertainty about what lies ahead. Like being in front of cows or behind them, how things look depends upon your perspective. For dairy producers,...
"We have a very detail-oriented nutritionist who monitors processing scores throughout the harvest. This year, the processing scores were in the upper 70s," explained James Coble. "That number is constantly...
Answer this quiz question . . . Does the United States export more corn or dairy products? Most people answering that question would pick corn. That answer would be an incorrect answer. "Last year 15,...
Federal safety net programs are designed to protect farmers, who actively share in the risk of a farming operation, against unanticipated changes in the marketplace. Farmers who receive such payments are...
How does a year always seem to go by in a blur? And why does all of the big dairy news always seem like it just happened? Here are 10 items that stick out in my mind: Manure is a four-letter word. Wow,...
Is this California's Dust Bowl? "Drought is not uncommon in California - it happens every summer," noted Thomas Harter when discussing California's past four years of drought. But California is in the...
A unique partnership was born in 1999 when Jake and Saskia Zwemmer approached a group of crop farmers in the thumb of Michigan. The Zwemmers wanted to focus their talents on cow care and buy forages from...
"We are trying to be very vigilant about staying within the statutory direction of the department (USDA), which is to focus on nutrition and diet," USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack explained to those attending...
Five strikes and you're finally out. For the fifth time in seven years, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against the U.S. mandatory Country Of Origin Labeling (COOL) law – and it was going...
All plastics aren't created equal by Amanda Smith, Associate Editor Plastic covers are a convenient and effective method to help preserve our silage piles. When silos are not promptly sealed, fewer sugars...
When is field runoff risk the highest, particularly in more northern climates? "March is the month," says Amber Radatz, co-director of the University of Wisconsin Discovery Farms. She explained that March...
"The grid sampling was quite interesting. Some farmers have fields that do better in some areas than other areas," explained Les Danielson. "You may have suspicions as to those fields; however, the grid...
If consumer advocates have been in an uproar over genetically modified plants, the atmosphere gained substantial energy when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved AquaBounty's application to...
It's like milk price déjà vu all over again by Mark Stephenson The author is director of Dairy Policy Analysis, University of Wisconsin-Madison. As we head into 2016, I can't help but focus...
Have you read all 20 issues of Hoard's Dairyman this year? The 41st annual Young Dairymen Quiz features questions from articles that appeared throughout 2015. Starting December 10, these same questions...
Consumers are continually demanding assurances in the humane treatment of farm animals and are mostly concerned with human and animal interactions. Responses to the demand for greater openness in livestock...
