Producer seminars are an early part of a five-year, $3 million grant from USDA. by Dennis Halladay, Hoard's Dairyman Western Editor The best description of genomics I have ever heard came this week from...
Little by little, cow milking is evolving from manual to automated. Not just for small herds, but for everyone. Adoption of robotic milking technology, whether as individual "box" units or as automated...
Is the trend motivated by cost or convenience? Just about anyone could guess that health care, housing and transportation costs were higher in 2013. And they'd be right. Americans have cut back across...
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...
Virtually no one doubts that U.S. farm milk prices will be lower in 2015. While many different predictions are out there, the only debate is about how far they may fall
This couple thought the magazine was a fitting prop for their wedding announcement. This love story may not have started in the Hoard's Dairyman, but the happy couple is no stranger to the magazine
Simply guessing as to the cause is part of the problem. Death loss is a challenge to every producer. Minimizing early removals from the herd should be the goal, but it starts with an understanding of the...
"In the best-case scenario, we'll lose only 2 to 3 percent of our harvested forage tons to fermentation shrink," noted John Goeser, Rock River Laboratory, at the Penn State Dairy Nutrition Conference
Over the past year, I have repeatedly been asked how I became interested in dairy cattle considering I grew up in a state more well-known for beef and wheat. Many times, that conversation prompt leaves...
This year's harvest marks two very different ends of the spectrum. Some dairies have been blessed with an abundance of forage to feed over the coming year
A small dairy area in far-northern California climbed aboard the anti-GMO bandwagon on Tuesday, when voters in Humboldt County approved the "Genetic Contamination Prevention Ordinance" by a 59 to 41 percent...
I'm not typically an early Christmas shopper, but in the more recent years I've learned to pay closer attention to what my dad needs when we are fixing something, milking the cows or working around the...
Spencer County FFA wins 5th National FFA Dairy Judging title in 10 years. When you say you've won the National FFA Dairy Judging Contest, you have done more than just judged cows. The two-day contest encompasses...
An estimated 6.5 million fulltime employees in California – including those who work on dairies – will begin earning three days per year of paid sick time off from their employers under the...
Holstein million-unit fraternity hits 50. Breeding and then marketing an elite bull is a tough undertaking, and only a few have been successful. Bulls need to appeal to a wide audience of producers, but...
Even well-educated parents with access to healthy foods struggle to meet the nutritional needs of their children. The groundwork for a healthy life is built during childhood. Unfortunately, financial limitations,...
When mastitis was detected in the week after insemination, the likelihood of the cow carrying a calf was greatly diminished. A dairy's success or failure hinges on a number of variables, one of which is...
Living and childrearing expenses continue to climb. Family living costs are up for urban and rural residents alike. In a survey of over 1,300 farm families, Illinois farmers reported that their cost of...
Meatless Monday is a global movement that began in 2003, encouraging consumers to refrain from eating meat on Mondays to better their health and save the environment
