Just yesterday, President Barack Obama signed into law the first major overhaul of U.S. food safety infrastructure since 1983. The bill, known as the American Food Safety Modernization Act or S. 510, comes...
In recent weeks, we've sadly heard of several barn collapses in the upper Midwest. Each of the barns that failed was bearing an extreme snow load due to an overly white Christmas we had in this part of...
As 2010 comes to a close, we reflect on the past year and plan for a positive 2011. When I look ahead, I think about the future through a young person's eyes – full of hope and the belief that positive...
Between a forecast for lower milk prices and the likelihood of higher feed costs, it's hard to not have a gloomy financial outlook for U.S. milk producers in 2011. Sorry. Amid the dreariness, however,...
USDA just announced they are set to publish their 2,300-plus page Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in the Federal Register, nearly four years after U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer halted the sale...
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate approved (81 to 19) the big tax package that extends Bush-era tax rates and includes a number of other measures. One of those measures would extend the Volumetric Ethanol Excise...
Years ago, bunkers were only known as a military hide-out. Those bunkers were safe. The bunkers on our dairy farms can be anything but. Deaths can and do occur because of poor face management, accidental...
Winter is here. . . and so is the cold and snow that can be harmful to those of us who work outdoors with livestock. "Bundle up, dress in layers, put on your hat" are familiar sounds to many children who...
World Ag Expo's first permanent exhibit building, the Dairy Center, turns 20 this year and has been upgraded for 2011 in two very exciting ways: The dirt floor is now concrete, and the one remaining wall...
Chinese milk production will reach 67 billion pounds in 2011, up 5 percent from 2010. This is among the forecasts of a USDA Foreign Ag Service GAIN report (Global Agricultural Information Network). China's...
One way that we at Hoard's Dairyman stay up to date on the newest research and tools is to subscribe to extension, research, and producer group newsletters. We gladly pass these newsletters around our...
Where are land prices headed? They are up everywhere except where dairy cows are found. That's the short answer to a more complicated question. Farmland prices jumped 10 percent during the third quarter...
For the first time in over two years, many western U.S. dairy herds began showing a small profit. While these positive numbers are a welcome sight for many dairy farmers, they fall way short of making...
Once upon a time, all cows were milked by hand and the job got done just fine. Then one day technology brought a new tool for dairy producers to consider: milking machines. The evolution of technology...
There is always something going on at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm. This week, one of the irons in the fire has been looking at the impact of buying 35 Jersey cows. Here's how we approached the issue: First,...
There is always something going on at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm. This week, one of the irons in the fire has been looking at the impact of buying 35 Jersey cows. Here's how we approached the issue: First,...
This title is an often-heard phase. It tells us to select the best person to accomplish a given task. It makes sense. If you are good with numbers, work with finance. Good with your hands, choose tasks...
According to the National Weather Service, Arizona is the sunniest state in the country (followed in order by California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas). That makes it the perfect place for solar electricity...
The North American 4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl contest was held on Saturday, November 6th in Louisville, Ky. Twenty teams competed in the national double-elimination contest which celebrated its 31st year. High...
Even though it was the smallest cow class of the day, Judge Hank Van Exel and Associate Judge Tom McCauley spent more time deliberating the top end of the extremely competitive Jersey 5-year-old class...
