Approach farm meetings prepared and with a goal in mind. Growing up, my favorite farm meetings occurred around the breakfast table. Specifically, I remember chowing down on some bacon prepared by my grandfather...
Keep your focus so you don't get pinned or pushed out of the ring. By Patti Hurtgen, Hoard's Dairyman Online Media Manager Wrestling can be a bit like dairy farming. Farmers must be scrappy to stay mobile...
Young farmers need opportunities to develop leadership skills. We all know that dairy farmers wear many hats. I spent the last several days wearing my leader hat. First, while finishing Phase III of the...
Another tight year for dairy producers raises the question, how does one best manage break-even costs? Managing fluctuation is an important part of today's global economy. Farms that successfully direct...
National organization continues to develop skills of young people. National FFA Week concludes tomorrow. This weeklong celebration of FFA happens every February, and in honor of the occasion, I recently...
My daughter, Caitlin, decided to return to the farm after graduating with a degree in diversified agriculture to manage our herd health and reproduction programs
Learning is a lifelong process and the Young Dairy Leaders Institute helped speed up that process. Today, I hop on a plane to finish Phase III of the Young Dairy Leaders Institute in sunny Phoenix, Arizona....
Type and production are partners in extreme production. Last month it was announced that Bur-Wall Buckeye Gigi produced 74,650 pounds of milk. That equates to 8,680 gallons of milk and set the single lactation...
Locomotion scoring can help detect lame cows and gauge overall herd health. When it's not a problem, foot and leg health is something that flies under the radar on a many dairies, but soggy spring conditions...
Understanding immunity promotes calf health. Vaccinations are designed to stimulate the immune system. They aren't cures, but tools to help the calf defend its body from viruses, bacteria and parasites....
Have a plan for what you want to see and do. Winter – the season when not a lot happens in the fields. And for this reason, trade shows are scheduled to entice busy farmers to attend. With World...
Jim Baird, gifted Hoard's Dairyman Art Director, passes on We would consider ourselves lucky to be really good at one thing – something that truly symbolized the essence of our being. But to be...
The Holstein breed would look different without the influence of Roy Ormiston. As dairy producers, we can all appreciate the power of a single generation or a single cow to alter the course of genetic...
One million children have already learned safer living An ounce of prevention . . . When the idea to host events to teach children about farm safety began in 1995, I doubt the Progressive Agriculture Foundation...
Select those that target your needs By Patti Hurtgen, Hoard's Dairyman Online Media Manager If every feed additive delivered on its hype, feeding them all would keep pushing milk production up and up....
California's dairy industry highlighted during annual event. It was the first time in the 127 year-history of the Rose Parade, the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) had a float entry. The organization...
Proper timing of forage availability can ease the rocky transition of weaning. Weaning time is easily one of the more difficult management challenges for producers with calf and heifer feeding programs....
Gadgets and devices aid – not replace dairy management. All that cool technology that people use to communicate, record exercise levels and monitor their sleep patterns, now are being applied to...
The math behind a plan to give a liter per day to 30 million schoolchildren doesn't work. by Dennis Halladay, Hoard's Dairyman Western Editor In the middle of a rising global flood of dairy products, the...
121.5 million dairy farms exist on our planet. By Patti Hurtgen, Hoard's Dairyman Online Media Manager Yep! Those numbers are current. They are based on worldwide data. Initially, your reaction might be...
