Great fun at the Minnesota State Fair! This year is the 58th crowning of Princess Kay. She will take a seat in the "butter booth" during the first day of the fair to have her head carved in butter. After...
The National Dairy Quality Awards strive to recognize the best in quality milk production. Do you know a dairy producer who deserves to be recognized for outstanding milk quality? Now in its 18th year,...
Recent international installations are approaching 1,000 cows Robotic milking hasn't taken off in the U.S. yet, but just wait. And don't think it is just for small herds. Two recently announced very different...
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adopted the recommendations of the dairy sub-committee Wednesday aiming to slash dairy prices significantly. As dairy industry reforms are implemented, producers will...
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...
"I became a believer in genomics when I saw how it consistently predicted how young, nonprogeny-tested bulls would rank to one another," Charlie Will, manager of Select Sires' Holstein sire selection group...
Yesterday, the popular search engine Google celebrated the 189th birthday of Gregor Mendel with this creative "doodle." (Google often celebrates milestones and holidays by working their name into a piece...
Volunteers are a special gift to many organizations and clubs – especially youth organizations. Not all parents have the time to be a soccer coach, club scout leaders or Sunday school teacher. Parents...
Those of us in the Plains may want an extra application of sunscreen this week. The National Weather Service is predicting spots from Oklahoma through South Dakota to match temperatures in Death Valley,...
Nine thousand miles, 11 states, 6 weeks and 1 very big idea is going to add up to an extra-busy summer for National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Jerry Kozak, who is heading up a cross-country...
We planned to provide more information on groups that help form the farm bill today, but instead will save that for future Wednesdays. Two of our editors had the opportunity to spend the week at the American...
"Wow, the Holsteins here are smaller than the ones back home!" I said while walking to work with a co-worker. "You must be American. Those black and whites are Friesians, not Holsteins." This was one of...
Last week, I attended the National Holstein Convention in Virginia, and so did over 1,000 Holstein enthusiasts from across the United States. The four-day event was full of meetings, tours, junior competitions,...
The FFA is one of the nation's premier youth organizations and agriculture is blessed to have the organization training future leaders in our industry. The Washington Leadership Conference, one of the...
When summer arrives, we know how warm and uncomfortable we can become. We look forward to the shade of a big oak tree, a chance to have lunch in an air-conditioned home, or the feel of the breeze on our...
It may be an essential nutrient for growing crops, but phosphorus (P) can wreak havoc when it flows to noncropping areas like streams, rivers, and lakes. Once in waterways, it can lead to algal blooms....
Lowering the somatic cell count (SCC) limit has received a lot of press lately, but reducing SCC has many benefits for dairy producers regardless of regulations. Higher premiums and improved cow health...
It's just a tiny trickle so far, but solar power projects are slowly beginning to pop up on Western dairies. The latest one to begin generating electricity for the power grid is a big one, more than 200...
Last weekend several members of the Hoard's Dairyman staff had the opportunity to attend and volunteer at Cows on the Concourse on the square surrounding Madison's capitol building. A dedicated group of...
California took over as the largest U.S. dairy state in 1994 and for the last nine years has made more milk than No. 2 and No. 3 combined. For over 40 years, it thrived by embracing a business philosophy...
