Consumers say they hear the warnings about raw milk, but they don't care. A well-done article in last week's San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News highlighted one of the head-shaking realities that the dairy...
Fifty-four hundred miles is practically next door when the topic is the 2012 U.S. ethanol market outlook. That's roughly the distance from Iowa, the largest corn-producing state in the U.S., to Brazil,...
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,...
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...
USDA projected a larger-than-expected U.S. corn and soybean crop in their year-end "Crop Production 2011 Summary" released early Thursday. Most market analysts had anticipated that final 2011 corn estimates...
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
By cutting the beginning or ending of a quote, whole speeches can be turned on their head. With video, it's even easier. David Letterman started a now-popular segment called Stupid Pet Tricks in 1982....
It was yet another preeminent national symposium whose sound-bites you didn't see on the evening news. Agriculture and facts are never sexy enough for TV unless people are sick, animals are abused, or...
Twenty years ago, a room full of farmers talking about land prices wouldn't have surprised anyone. But what about a room full of investors? On November 15, we attended the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's...
College can be expensive and preparing for this large investment begins long before you pay your first semester tuition. Many agricultural businesses and organizations provide scholarships to deserving...
Farmers are given the task of protecting and perpetuating the productivity of land and its natural resources. Those who rely on the soil for their livelihood are taking care of the land today and for future...
For the first eight months of 2011, the average somatic cell count (SCC), for all months, has remained under 260,000. Traditionally, the highest SCC month is August. This year, August came in at 260,000
Anyone shopping for corn or hay supplies may be in store for a challenge well into next year. Last week, USDA reaffirmed its bushels-per-acre estimate for the 2011 corn crop at 148.1, the lowest in six...
The program, with the help of local farmers, aims to teach school children about where their food comes from. Earlier this year, the USDA introduced a new version of the food pyramid known as MyPlate
If you haven't heard, both HSUS and PETA are emotion-driven organizations with the goal to have animals as equals to humans. Fans flocking to Green Bay will see a billboard placed by one of their front...
We drove through central and southern Illinois on the way to and from the joint American Association of Bovine Practitioners and National Mastitis Council meeting in St. Louis, Mo
Severe drought and record high corn prices have made 2011 a nightmare for beef producers in Texas and surrounding states. One result, though, is the value of cull dairy cows has soared to levels milk producers...
The Daily Beast (www.thedailybeast.com), an online news site which merged with Newsweek this year, printed their list of the "20 Most Useless College Majors." Let's just say, we don't think they nailed...
USDA expects ethanol to use the biggest share of 2011 crop. For the first time ever, ethanol plants are expected to use more of the nation's corn crop in 2011 than livestock producers do. If that happens,...
Guess which costs more: far away by ship or close by truck? Milk-cow-quality alfalfa hay is already over $300 per ton in California which isn't making this a fun summer for dairy producers there. An article...
