Opposition to the federal government's seemingly single-minded support of ethanol production as a solution to help the U.S. become more energy self-sufficient reached a new boiling point last week, with...
If your herd could talk to you about their pen dynamics, what would they say? Would they compliment the soft, bedded freestalls, the wide alley ways, and the roominess of the feedbunk? Or would they be...
Longevity and milking persistency finally paid off for a Maryland cow on Wednesday, when the American Jersey Cattle Association named her the breed's Living Lifetime Production Leader for 2010. She had...
Delegates to the bi-annual National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments yesterday narrowly defeated a proposal to reduce the somatic cell count (SCC) legal limit from the current 750,000 cells per...
We are all familiar with the daily routine on our own farms and maybe how dairy producers in other regions of the country operate their facilities, but a select few have ventured internationally to learn...
As we've said before, farmers, industry professionals, and educators need to continue lobbying for dairy as much as we can. School teachers, supermarkets, and senators alike need to be reminded of just...
If you are an active online agriculturalist (or "agvocate" as it is termed in pro-agriculture Twitter and Facebook circles like #AgChat), you have probably realized that the New York Times and its associated...
It may not seem like spring weather, but spring is here! That means it's time to clean, replace, and check on your equipment and facilities. David Bray at the University of Florida provided several items...
Have you ever been in the middle of a huge mess or fight with no exit door? But when you think about it, you're not exactly sure what got you into the chaos in the first place? For those of us in agriculture,...
We are very familiar with the four H's: (head, heart, hands, and health) in the 4-H pledge. But now the "health for better living" holds even more meaning. According to recent findings from Tufts University,...
With the end of the school year rapidly approaching, college is beckoning for many students. A new location, new routine, and new people can make college quite an adjustment. We asked a few students for...
At almost the 11th hour, a budget compromise last Friday averted a threatened shutdown of federal government functions. Even though the shutdown was averted, it had some impact. For example, the first...
The April sire evaluations are ready for your review. We have created lists for all seven breeds. In the Holsteins, the Top 100 bulls for Net Merit are listed. All bulls must be in the top 40 percentile...
Every five years, the federal government releases updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans, making recommendations on servings for the various food groups. Milk and dairy products continue to be an important...
When commodity prices shoot up, growers face tougher decisions about what to plant. They have to consider their own situations in terms of crop rotations, soil and moisture conditions, recent yields, seed...
Want to know what the administrator of the EPA is up to today? In the past few months, it has become evident that many farmers, agricultural organizations, and agribusinesses have become suspect of the...
After completing the most comprehensive study on a genetically engineered (GE) crop in the nation's history, the organic community is still not satisfied with USDA's recent decision to make Roundup Ready...
We are quite familiar with the phase, "We all learn from our mistakes." Nothing smacks you in the face as a poor decision, but, once that mistake is made, it is rarely repeated by the same person. We need...
Twenty-two percent of the beef in the US is from dairy cattle. And while only 6 to 8 percent of dairy producers' total dairy income is from the dairy beef, it is an important component in dairy operations....
Dairy producers proved they are a resilient lot. Despite tough economic conditions during the past two years, most producers kept milking cows as only 1,805 licensed dairy farms called it quits last year....
