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...
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...
Patriotism shined bright at the Ag Warriors Gala at World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif., last evening. It marked the official launch of the International Agri-Center's Ag Warriors Program which will benefit...
Still learning Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn? Pinterest has come to take its own space on the web. Facebook and Twitter have virtually taken over the world as text-based ways to communicate...
Milkfat depression (MFD) has a major economic impact in the dairy industry. “The current train of thought links MFD with the formation of bioactive trans fatty acid intermediates produced from...
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...
Hoard's Dairyman columnist, Gary Sipiorski, reminds us why milking cows is still a worthwhile endeavor. And yes, we're talking economics. With record corn prices (resulting in record bean, alfalfa, other...
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,...
Recent studies show drinking milk enhances the cognitive brain activity of dairy consumers. We've heard the time-tested slogan "Milk, it does a body good!" Well, new research from the University of Maine...
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...
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...
The birth of healthy twin heifer calves with a healthy mother cow is a gift on any dairy farm. Multiply that by two, and what do you get? 179,200,000. A normal day at Zuppan Dairy, Orland, Calif., includes...
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...
High feed prices continue to dominate coffee shop dairy talk these days, with no item more discussed than alfalfa hay. While longtime Western hay market analyst Seth Hoyt thinks prices will be $30 to $50...
The dairy industry can be unpredictable at times, but the milk production trend from the major states is one of the most predictable, even at the month level. With genetic progress and new management techniques...
Much of the U.S. dairy industry wanted it, but milk quality officials didn't have the guts to do it earlier this year. Now here it comes anyway: a stricter but entirely doable 400,000 SCC limit on at least...
Will dairies with meat residue violations also have antibiotic residues in their bulk tanks? In an attempt to answer this question, in 2012, the FDA will relaunch its program to test for antibiotic residues...
