"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...
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...
Change is one of the great constants in U.S. dairy farming. The industry has been evolving for most of a century, but especially in the last 20 years. Like an ice skater who draws in their arms while spinning,...
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
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,...
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
In our February 10, 2013, issue, four producers from Vermont, New York, Wisconsin and California shared their thoughts on feeding high-forage diets to their herds. With the level of detail these producers...
Time and resources limit teaching efforts. Contests should facilitate learning, not just provide scores. by Patti Hurtgen, Hoard's Dairyman Online Media Manager The ability to learn from past experience...
Like many others production sectors, dairy farming continues to evolve into a highly focused segment. In May 2012, there were 1,767 counties that sold milk within the Federal Milk Marketing Order
Excellence in what is not only possible for the production of superb quality milk, but what is already taking place on U.S. dairy farms, was celebrated January 29 at the 52nd annual National Mastitis Council...
A degree of closure has come in the sensational animal abuse video case that occurred in Idaho last October. Jesus Garza, 25, one of three employees seen abusing cattle in an undercover video that was...
Our January 10, 2013 issue kicks off our annual cow judging contest which runs through the March 10 edition. This year's classes will include Brown Swiss, Holstein, Red and Whites, Ayrshire and Jersey...
Every event in life is a learning experience, even if what you learn is "I don't want to do that again." The same can be said of 2012. It was a year that flew by but still left many lessons for dairy producers....
It's a study that is cited in almost every issue of Hoard's Dairyman. Those who author herd health, milk quality and facilities-related articles frequently use the NAHMS Dairy 2007 study as a reference
For some time, dairy producers and other industry specialists who closely follow genetic evaluations have agreed that productive life estimates - a measure of how long a cow lives - have been somewhat...
History is constantly evolving, so the records of the past are in continual motion. National Dairy Shrine is working on renovations to the Joe P. Eves Library and displays surrounding it. During World...
