Genetic and genomic giant, Picston Shottle, has added one more credential to his long list of accomplishments. With a stronghold on the Holstein Association USA's TPI List, Shottle stood on top for seven...
After losing over 80,028 dairy farms since 1992, it appears the reductions in licensed dairy operations are moderating. In the last four years, losses have ranged from 1,651 to 2,195 with the watermark...
Travel the I-29 corridor in eastern South Dakota and you will have found the heart of the state's population. Intermingled along this same stretch of land are the vast majority of the state's dairy cattle...
We attended the Illinois Agricultural Communications Symposium last week, organized in honor of the University of Illinois Ag Communications' 50-year anniversary. The daylong event started off with a...
The twin combo of more milk per cow and a larger dairy herd pushed up milk production last year. When looking at the year-end statistics released by USDA, cow numbers went up 75,000-head or 0.8 percent...
Mud, sun, warmth, cold, crowds, and fun were all part of the familiar mix at World Ag Expo last week in Tulare, Calif. But it's what was not there that was the show's biggest dairy story. If 2009 was...
You can explain risk management and its potential benefits to milk producers all day long, but if they go away thinking it's too expensive or too complicated, then they probably won't try it. The dairy...
With a smaller-than-anticipated corn crop, how do we balance domestic, global, and industry needs for corn? The first ethanol-run vehicle was developed in Philadelphia in 1826. Therefore, we would not...
Higher culling rates have appeared to stem the robust buildup of dairy replacements by trimming inventories 41,000 head in January compared to last year's 4.57 million heifers. While that is welcomed news,...
Helping nations feed themselves promotes internal stability and global security. Forget oil. For thousands of years, more wars have been fought over food and water than for any other reason. It's a history...
Gordie Jones, D.V.M., kept a crowd curious with the ideas he developed over the years, all in the name of improving life for the dairy cow. Cows turn right easier than they can turn left. Cows move faster...
Demand was so strong for the cover crop that seed inventory sold-out last year. "I conducted my initial research on cover crops and literally had to beg to get on agenda's at crop meetings," recalled University...
In its 51st year, the National Mastitis Council (NMC) annual meeting continues to look to the future. With the nation's somatic cell count effectively at 400,000 (at least for those with product that has...
When W.D. Hoard started Hoard's Dairyman as a supplement to the weekly Jefferson County Union newspaper on January 23, 1885, I doubt he would have imagined its potential growth, spread over a century and...
There are 115 more reasons for dairy producers to attend World Ag Expo February 14 to 16 in Tulare, Calif. – the number of registered Holsteins, Red and Whites, and Jerseys that will sell at auction...
Betty Thompson grew up on a Jersey farm in Oklahoma. Miss Thompson earned the title of Miss Oklahoma several months ago and competed this weekend in the Miss America competition. She is a senior at Oklahoma...
I saw a story a several years ago about the America Needs Farmers campaign launched by the University of Iowa in 1985. At the time, Iowa was ranked number one in college football, beat number two Michigan...
Ears per acre jumps concurrently. An average row width of 30 inches most common. With an average of 30,750 plants per acre as of November, Iowa corn producers planted the highest density per acre, besting...
China is in the news for milk, again. This time it is China Mengniu Dairy Company, the nation's largest dairy producer according to Bloomberg News – China
In late December, the American Guernsey Association stopped by the Hoard's Dairyman farm to conduct an appraisal of all cows that had calved since October