Where dairy farms are plentiful, the tradition continues. Bill Barlass explains some plans for the future to the crowd during last night's twilight meeting at Barlass Jerseys. If you live on a dairy farm,...
Record high cull cow prices could be enhanced further with more attention to quality. Dairy producers have paid a great deal of attention to milk quality for a number of years. However, we have been a...
The National Red & White Dairy Cattle Association's annual convention was held in Sauk Rapids, Minn. from July 20-23 at the Benton County fairgrounds. It included a show, tours, annual meeting, awards...
Volunteers are a special gift to many organizations and clubs – especially youth organizations. Not all parents have the time to be a soccer coach, club scout leaders or Sunday school teacher. Parents...
What is a food desert? (desert, not dessert) It is a relatively new term that originated in the early 1990s but has become more mainstream in recent years. According to the USDA, a food desert is a Census...
New Zealand has followed a similar economic trend to its biggest customer, supplier, and investor, Australia, and it hasn't been pretty. But New Zealand is now beginning to mimic Australia's resource-driven...
Last week, I attended the National Holstein Convention in Virginia, and so did over 1,000 Holstein enthusiasts from across the United States. The four-day event was full of meetings, tours, junior competitions,...
Summer starts next week, but milk prices are already sizzling… much to our continued pleasant surprise. Throughout January, February, and March we watched with some dismay as Class III price futures...
U.S. dairy exports are on the upswing, according to the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service's Summary of U.S. Dairy Exports released June 9, 2011. During the February to April 2011 time period, exports...
Lowering the somatic cell count (SCC) limit has received a lot of press lately, but reducing SCC has many benefits for dairy producers regardless of regulations. Higher premiums and improved cow health...
Paul Dyk, who recently left University of Wisconsin Extension for a job in the private sector, wrote a good article in a recent UWEX newsletter titled Higher Speed Internet Options for Fond du Lac County....
Cash receipts from milk marketed last year totaled $31.36 billion. That was a 24 percent rise over 2009's $24.34 billion. Milk sales totaled $34.85 billion 2008. These numbers come from USDA's annual publication...
At the Environmental Protection Agency's AgSTAR (http://www.epa.gov/agstar/) conference this week, we will hear from experts on the latest and greatest things happening with anaerobic digesters. Yesterday,...
It may not seem like spring weather, but spring is here! That means it's time to clean, replace, and check on your equipment and facilities. David Bray at the University of Florida provided several items...
Whole Foods Market is phasing in a new five-step animal welfare rating program for all chicken, beef, and pork products (Click here for their animal welfare page). At the least, all animal products must...
With the recent events of an earthquake and tsunami, the safety of the human food supply in Japan is getting much attention. The World Health Organization official claims the food safety situation is "more...
Hoard's Dairyman's third webinar was a great success! Dr. Mark Stephenson, Director of Dairy Policy Analysis for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, presented "How milk production control plans compare."...
The recent runup in 2011 Class III milk price futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has brought both relief and a euphoria to the nation's milk producers. But, as we've said before, as prices have...
When you're contemplating selections at the grocery store, do you ever stop and consider grabbing an off-brand? After all, its probably exactly the same, right? Now picture this scenario in the dairy case....
Between a forecast for lower milk prices and the likelihood of higher feed costs, it's hard to not have a gloomy financial outlook for U.S. milk producers in 2011. Sorry. Amid the dreariness, however,...
