by Amanda Smith, Associate Editor Water. To thrive, agriculture needs water. And it's the ingredient that California, one of our nation's most agriculturally productive states, is most severely lacking....
Gypsum, a product recycled from manufacturing and construction waste, has hit the agricultural scene. When added to the soil, gypsum adds sulfur and calcium while reducing phosphorus runoff. In some situations,...
Big new dairies are something of a rage in China these days. Some provide milk for domestic use, while others are specifically to make products for export
"Some cows need $2 less in feed daily to produce the same amount of product. Can we find these efficient cows?" Michigan State's Mike VandeHaar asked the audience at the joint annual meeting of the American...
Determining the breed composition of the U.S. dairy herd is somewhat of an inexact science because not all herds are enrolled in an official testing plan. Even among cows enrolled in a testing plan, the...
From the heart of farm-centric Iowa, the Des Moines Water Works (a city department) has filed a lawsuit against three counties contending that drainage ditches that handle water collected by "engineered...
We have to be mindful that dietary "advice" can erode public faith in science and agriculture. I bring this to the forefront after reading the Hoard's Dairyman Intel, "We've been all wrong on fat." The...
Just as the introduction of genomics - the DNA-based study of genetics - caused many dairy producers not previously interested in genetics to take notice, the government's Margin Protection Program (MPP-Dairy)...
Sadly, all eyes are on Greece these days – like a crowd that is riveted to a ledge walker on a skyscraper. Once the greatest civilization on Earth, its economy is in ruins today on a scale that has...
Dry cows aren't second-class citizens by Amanda Smith, Associate Editor On many farms, the environment is the root of fresh cow somatic cell count (SCC) problems. Dry cows and springing heifers may not...
When deciding what to plant this year, more farmers than normal chose to side with soybeans. While planted corn acres are at their lowest level since 2010, at 88.9 million acres, soybean acres have reached...
Myth buster - the most fertile heifer by Corey Geiger, Managing Editor Instinctively, having direct involvement with Guernseys, Holsteins and Jerseys, I should have known the answer to the question posed...
Hoard's Dairyman Webinar Archives July 13, 2015: What the cows are telling us about their transition needs presented by Ken Nordlund, D.V.M., University of Wisconsin Brought to you by Bovikalc (www.Bovikalc.com)...
Calculating manure's price tag Manure is no doubt a useful by-product, but one must realize the time and money it takes to get it from the cow to the field. Funding for the project was provided by a USDA-RME...
Handy Hint: July 2015 Portable vise makes work easier Sometimes I need a vise or something to hold parts that I'm working on when I am away from the workshop. Since I have an ATV bobcat with a dump box...
Heart disease - at one time little was known on the topic. What we did know was that it was almost nonexistent at the turn of the last century. By the 1950s, it had become an epidemic with some 100,000...
"What's fascinating is that milk has become fashionable again. Nutritionally, we're just beginning to understand what milk can do," noted Food For Health Ireland CEO Jens Bleiel. In terms of the science...
