Decades ago, cows gave far less milk and reproduction came easy. Today's cows produce high volumes of milk, but are still expected to calve back consistently. There was a downward trend for fertility until...
A scene from the new cross-cultural milk advertisement. In 1995, the California Milk Processor Board's advertising agency, Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, created the iconic "Got Milk?" slogan
With strong milk prices, farms may wish to bring more cows in to help fill the bulk tank. Outlets for purchasing dairy cattle are plentiful, but so are the disease risks new animals can bring to your herd
A few clicks of my heels and a quick 11-hour drive, and I will be back on my flat, home turf of Kansas, enjoying 100-plus degree temperatures and humidity
Of North Dakota's 18,000 dairy cows, one stands head and shoulders above the rest. That's because she is 38 feet tall, 50 feet long and weighs in at 12,000 pounds. Her name is Salem Sue, and she has the...
Can the United States and other countries meet their needs? A staggering picture of just how big China's demand for dairy products already is – and how much bigger it is expected to be in less than...
While all the research conducted by the world's animal scientists is geared towards building a better agricultural system, it's important for everyone to remember that ultimately our number one goal is...
What a crazy, incredible turnaround. Huge 2014 crop outlooks in the U.S. and other major grain-producing countries have destroyed the high prices for feed grains that made life so painful for anyone with...
Water quality is paramount to cow health. "My cows are dying. What is going on?" sobbed the 65-year-old dairy producer as his cracked hands cradled his cheeks and covered his swollen eyes. "They calve,...
Hemorrhagic bowel syndrome (HBS) was first detected in the early 1990s in dairy herds. Since that time, it has become a more common issue in the industry affecting all breeds of cattle and especially Brown...
The Commercial Herd Award recognizes the top herd in the nation for Energy Corrected Milk. The herd must complete over 50 lactations during the year. Hoard's Dairyman Farm completed 147 records in 2013...
Webinar shares steps to boost production. One pound of milk per cow per day over your entire herd really adds up over a whole year. In his Monday, July 14, webinar, Mike Hutjens, University of Illinois,...
At 7 a.m. on a typical June day, most young people are still in bed enjoying the start to their summer vacation. Members of the Barnyard Clovers 4-H club are not among the late risers. Almost every June...
Gone are the days where every youth at a dairy event resides on a farm. There was a time when nearly every youth showing at a fair, competing in dairy judging or competing in quiz bowl lived and worked...
In an ideal world, every calving would happen unassisted and result in a perfectly healthy, active calf. However, as all dairy producers know, that sometimes is not the case. "We can have a critical impact...
Fort Atkinson's historic Hoard's Dairyman Farm was recognized by the American Guernsey Association for having 28 of the 100 top Guernseys nationally for milk and components production. The Association...
Shades, fans, misters and water make milk production possible even in the desert. Few places in the U.S. are as deadly an environment for cows as Arizona, but milk producers there have become masters at...
School lunch programs have become a political hot button as of late. Washington is gridlocked, as two opposing forces attempt to steer the future direction of the National School Lunch Program
