With USDA's NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service) division sequestration-imposed budget cuts (www.hoards.com/blog_NASS-milk-production-report-axed) now in effect, February milk production will...
On conventional dairy farms, antibiotics have a place in treating sick animals but never in the milk or meat sold by the farm. Consumers can drink milk happily and safely thanks to the efforts put forth...
Mastitis has severe economic consequences costing, on average, $200 or more per case. The disease also impairs cattle well being. While prevention is preferred, there are a number of technologies that...
After reviewing the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) announcement from Tuesday, March 12, it became crystal clear that dairy contributed the largest cost savings for NASS' mandated budget...
"I am not prepared to accept the fact that feet and leg heritabilities are as low as they currently appear. We need to evaluate the trait better," Gordon Atkins, D.V.M., told those attending the 122nd...
"The concept of a billion has become devalued as we have gone through the global financial crisis," noted David Hughes, Imperial College-London, at the 2013 Western Canadian Dairy Seminar
As the landscape of the agricultural farmstead has changed from red barns with a variety of livestock and two-story white farmhouses to more single-focused livestock operations, have the words we use changed...
For over half a century, the concept of healthy eating has become synonymous with avoiding fat, especially saturated fats, noted Adam Lock, Michigan State University, at the Southwest Nutrition and Management...
Sometimes we are so close to a topic that we often forget the values and assume everyone else is just as familiar with it as those who are so deeply entrenched. My responsibilities include the online content...
Milking and managing cows with robots requires some new management styles. As a follow-up to our February 25 Round Table "Robots milk our herds," these herd owners discuss handling repairs and buying used...
Focusing on "the other bacteria," or emerging mastitis pathogens, Pam Ruegg, University of Wisconsin-Madison, addressed those gathered at the Wisconsin Dairy Field Representative Conference
According to data just released by the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA), the number of Jerseys on Dairy Herd Information(DHI) test in 2012 rose for the ninth straight year and their actual average...
At World Ag Expo last week, a giant milk bottle caught my attention. It was filled with hundreds of white ping pong balls with names on them. Each ball, known as a milk drop, represents each dairy producer...
The weather changes every day, there's no way around it. But is it a trend? Factors outside meteorologists, hurricanes and snowstorms can be offered as proof. I'm giving up on "climate consistency." That's...
"You can't just go out there, feed them and squeeze them," was one of the many great financial one-liners Gary Sipiorski shared with a packed audience at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Frankenmuth,...
It's impossible to easily sum up the 46th annual World Ag Expo, which ended its three-day run yesterday in Tulare, Calif. The weather was easily one for the record books. This year was as sunny, dry and...
Milk Income Loss Contracts (MILC) were automatically extended through September 30, 2013, under the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. There is no need for producers to re-enroll in MILC
Dairy management programs offered at no cost. No dairy herd is a cookie cutter of the next. Each have their own unique set of fixed costs, feed options and management criteria. Fortunately, there is software...
"Compared to 1944, milk production per cow is up 443 percent," Dale Bauman told attendees at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Frankenmuth, Mich
Agriculture's attention turns to Tulare, California, next week for the 46th annual World Ag Expo. The largest farm equipment and technology show in the world is expected to attract over 100,000 visitors...
