Spring has barely begun, yet things already look grim. Bad turned to worse for California's drought situation in 2014, which is why, on the first day of spring this year, California's 2015 water situation...
My bout with an intestinal infection hardened my stance on raw milk. I spent most of my Christmas break helping my boyfriend on his 40-cow dairy in northwestern Wisconsin. The first couple of weeks of...
New school lunch policies improved food consumption and minimized waste in one school district; can we do even better? By Abby Bauer, Hoard's Dairyman Associate Editor When the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids...
"Fuel Greatness" campaign stresses breakfast for children. Breakfast sets the table for the day's activities. Starting the day with a meal is the fuel that helps us stay active. Studies have shown that...
Only 1,631 farms left, but it was still the 22nd yearly decline in a row. "Get out while the getting is good" saw 1,631 U.S. dairies leave the industry in 2014. According to data released earlier this...
Week-long celebration promotes national ag program. We are in the heart of national FFA week, which started on Saturday, February 21 and concludes on February 28. The week is celebrated each year over...
Watch the cows to be sure your facility provides the resting space they need. Cows are busy creatures, and one of the most important activities they do is rest. "We want to see high-producing cows lying...
The Big Fat Surprise book turns society's view of fat upside down. A new book has taken the nation by storm, and it bodes well for both the dairy industry and agriculture as a whole. The Big Fat Surprise...
Record-dry January kicked off what looks to be a fourth straight year. It's raining today in big parts of California. A series of storms began pounding the northern half of the state earlier this week...
DHIA milk sample-based method is 91 percent accurate identifying herd prevalence. Next to mastitis, perhaps no subclinical health problem is as common, as unseen (if not outright ignored) or as costly...
Mastitis threatens your young ladies – and your bottom line – long before they reach the milking parlor. Heifer mastitis is real, it is costly, and dairy scientists say it is more common than...
Prevent problems before they cause early culling. Mike Hutjens presented "Feeding cows for transition success" during the January Hoard's Dairyman webinar. He shared 10 Key Performance Indicators (KPI)....
You may have heard this saying previously and wondered what it means or how it would apply to your dairy or everyday life. It's one I try to live by daily in all things, big and small, I sum it up with...
It seems like every day there's a new video or angry blog post that condemns farmers and their practices. While these are usually exaggerated and hold few truths, animal agriculture and dairy, in particular
Global warming or not, the world's climate is changing. In the United States, greater variability in precipitation patterns, more pronounced differences in weather between regions, and rising average temperatures...
Take a seat, have a taste . . . and say hello to farmer Frank. None of these are part of the grocery store shopping experience today, but "Supermarket Guru" and NBC Television Today Show food trends editor...
Haste makes waste. An idiom that's long been applied to children completing their household chores is just as relevant to our corn silage harvest and storage. Occasionally, in the haste to stay ahead of...