In 2009, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy set a goal to reduce enteric methane emissions per pound of fluid milk by 25 percent by 2020. At this point, our industry has seven years left to meet or exceed...
Smartphones have quickly risen in popularity. In the 2012 Hoard's Dairyman Continuing Marketing Study, 28.5 percent of dairy farmers surveyed owned a device similar to a smartphone, BlackBerry or iPad....
Holstein Association USA classifier Willis Gunst recently attended a twilight meeting in Wisconsin to share the new classification changes with Holstein breeders and to answer questions they have on the...
Production in the 23 major dairy producing states remained static for two consecutive months. With a slight revision of less than 0.1 percent from preliminary estimates, June milk production was bolstered...
Sire summaries are calculated by the United States Department of Agriculture three times each year in April, August and December. Hoard's Dairyman compiled the August data on the seven dairy breeds and...
Bad has turned to worse for milk producers in the nation's largest dairy state. Few, if any, California dairies managed to fully recover from the 2009 cost:price crisis before another outbreak in 2012
To remain a player we cannot remain disinvested in agriculture. Last Thursday we shared some insight from Sonny Ramaswamy the recently appointed director of the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture...
With half of the country now in a drought disaster area, if there was ever a year for dairy farmers to take reducing silage losses seriously, this is it. The most silage you have is when it is standing...
Most dairy nutritionists already have been stuffing cows with as many alternative feeds as they can lay their ration formulas on. If there is less corn or soybeans at harvest time, due to our current...
We have all read stories, seen comments, and observed television interviews that contain less-than-accurate information on our industry and our practices. We get irritated, but wonder if it is worth the...
When Hoard's Dairyman commissioned artist Bonnie Mohr, Glencoe, Minn., to create a new edition to its Foster Mothers of the Human Race paintings, the result was astounding
I spent the past week at my family's dairy farm in southwest Minnesota. One evening, while helping my dad with a few chores after milking, we felt a few drops of rain. We hoped the sprinkles would turn...
You may have heard Kelly Clarkson sing, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." However, Julia Ridpath, of the National Animal Disease Center/ARS/USDA staff, reminded dairy producers that in the case...
On a decent number of dairy operations, migrant workers comprise a portion or the majority of the labor force. These are people we have come to depend on day to day to successfully run our dairies
You may be facing challenges with the availability and expense of common bedding sources such as sawdust or the management of sand bedding. In recent years recycled manure solids have become a more prevalent...
May milk production refused to buck the trend set by the preceding months. When compared to May 2011, 2012's production was up 2.1 percent in the 23 major states. The milk production estimates are provided...
On Friday June 15, the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding released its road map for operational and financial aspects of how U.S. genetic evaluations might be carried out once USDA takes a step back from...
Recent size and landscape changes of New Zealand's dairy industry are worth noting. Even though New Zealand currently produces less than 5 percent of the global milk supply, recent changes in size and...
Dairy leadership program will now be held more frequently. The time for leadership in the dairy industry becomes more critical as producer numbers decline and the number of consumers grow. Fortunately,...
