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Jan. 27 2015
Keep fresh cows "fresher" by identifying high risk cows early on. The high-risk fresh cow: She's older (third lactation or greater), had a difficult calving and is battling lameness. She had a longer lactation...
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Jan. 26 2015
Tell your farm's story for the betterment of agriculture as a whole I've come to the conclusion that the positive potential of sharing my farming story with the masses has to outweigh the fear. We hear...
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Jan. 16 2015
Mastitis threatens your young ladies – and your bottom line – long before they reach the milking parlor. Heifer mastitis is real, it is costly, and dairy scientists say it is more common than...
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Jan. 15 2015
Lameness and hoof health have garnered a great deal of attention in recent years. At the Vita Plus Dairy Summit, veterinarian Gerard Cramer discussed how we can address hoof health globally. An often-mentioned...
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Jan. 12 2015
You may have heard this saying previously and wondered what it means or how it would apply to your dairy or everyday life. It's one I try to live by daily in all things, big and small, I sum it up with...
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Jan. 8 2015
It was drilled into my head from a very young age to watch out for calves with droopy ears, sunken eyes and clear signs of illness. Many producers use physical and behavioral signs such as these to detect...
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Jan. 6 2015
"One of the most important events on a dairy is calving," said Mark Thomas, D.V.M., a New York veterinarian and consultant with Dairy Health and Management Services, LLC
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Jan. 5 2015
Print or digital, it's the same contest . . . with the same cows . . . and the same judges. The only difference . . . You can view the five classes and enter electronically. For 85 years the Hoard's Dairyman...
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Dec. 18 2014
Dairymen balance their feed budgets on pennies. Ingredients are often pulled from a ration based on the perceived cents per cow it could save the bottom line
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Dec. 16 2014
Today's dairy producers use the lactation curve to schedule milk harvest from a cow. Her milk production level dictates ration changes, housing group and may push up or move back her dry-off date
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Dec. 15 2014
Your lighting decisions affect animals at all ages, not just lactating dairy cows. A recent Kentucky Cooperative Extension paper reminds us of the importance of both long-day and short-day photoperiods...
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Dec. 12 2014
Slowly but surely, the average quality of U.S. milk is becoming amazingly good. In 2013, for the 12th year in a row, the nationwide average somatic cell count (SCC) for all cows on Dairy Herd Information...
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Dec. 11 2014
In December 1974, Hoard's Dairyman published, "How do you score in dairy knowledge?" on its Young Dairymen page
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Dec. 10 2014
Keeping teats soft and healthy is the goal of every producer, but becomes more challenging during winter's cold temperatures. Leo Timms, Iowa State University, discussed this topic during the Hoard's...
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Dec. 9 2014
Global warming or not, the world's climate is changing. In the United States, greater variability in precipitation patterns, more pronounced differences in weather between regions, and rising average temperatures...
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Dec. 8 2014
Research sheds additional light on the specific effects of mastitis on reproductive efficiencies. The dairy cow's internal balance can often be a fragile thing, and it is never more apparent than when...
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Dec. 5 2014
Producer seminars are an early part of a five-year, $3 million grant from USDA. by Dennis Halladay, Hoard's Dairyman Western Editor The best description of genomics I have ever heard came this week from...
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Dec. 4 2014
Forage digestibility can be a game changer. For dairymen who were banking on the harvested tons to add some breathing room back in their forage budget, a crop like 2014's provided little relief
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Dec. 1 2014
Milk alternatives are still giving cow's milk a run for its money, but they may not be all they're cracked up to be. There's a resurgence in the debate between cow's milk and milk alternatives for children....
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Nov. 28 2014
Little by little, cow milking is evolving from manual to automated. Not just for small herds, but for everyone. Adoption of robotic milking technology, whether as individual "box" units or as automated...