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 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...
The cost of raising children increased again last year. That is no surprise with the cost of food and gasoline rising for everyone. According to Expenditures on Children by Families, a child born in 2011...
Crude prices have dropped 24 percent this year, but dairy producers shouldn't hold their breath. by Dennis Halladay, Hoard's Dairyman Western Editor The financial highway for dairies always seems to be...
We posted a photo yesterday on our Hoard's Dairyman Facebook page of a well-dressed young man standing at the end of his dairy barn with rose petals sprinkled down the alley. We thought it was a unique...
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...
It took a ground swell of support in rural America to finally convince the Obama Administration's Department of Labor to withdraw its proposed rule further regulating children under the age of 16 who work...
Within farm nutrient variation, estimates are needed to determine feed sampling and ration re-formulation schedules. by Hoard's Dairyman staff "Good ration formulation is a form of risk management. Diets...
"Despite years of research, we still have sick cows," noted Nina von Keyserlingk, University of British Columbia, at the 2012 Herd Health and Nutrition Conference in Syracuse N.Y. Even with the herd health...
Big changes and much stricter rules are looking very likely. Enormous change appears to be coming in the way dairies and other livestock operations are accustomed to using pharmaceuticals on their animals,...
by Hoard's Dairyman staff One of the U.S.'s most prominent dairymen looked into his renewable crystal ball. Mike McCloskey, D.V.M., may be a name you are familiar with. Or another name, Fair Oaks Farms,...
This year's conference "Got Manure?" featured a preconference tour of three New York digester systems. Methane digester interest continues to grow, as a near capacity crowd filled the conference room at...
And, how are we changing over time? Financially, every business, whether it is dairy related or not, faces an array of challenges and opportunities that impact profitability and future success
Optimism was in the air as three robotic milking dairy producers took the stage at a panel concluding today’s Tri-State Robotic Milking Seminar in Belmont, Wis. The meeting gave a background
We have some bonus coverage from our February 25 Round Table, "Forage and tillage practices that work for them." The dairy producers discuss more on controlling weeds and insects
Well-spoken young professionals, both producers and allied industry, participated in leadership training in Albuquerque, N.M. They were exposed to break-out sessions, media training, and a panel discussion...
After losing over 80,028 dairy farms since 1992, it appears the reductions in licensed dairy operations are moderating. In the last four years, losses have ranged from 1,651 to 2,195 with the watermark...
Still learning Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn? Pinterest has come to take its own space on the web. Facebook and Twitter have virtually taken over the world as text-based ways to communicate...
"Alfalfa and grass aren't the same, but they can be complementary to each other," noted Jim Paulson with the University of Minnesota. Paulson along with Paul Peterson, University of Minnesota, shared...
When W.D. Hoard started Hoard's Dairyman as a supplement to the weekly Jefferson County Union newspaper on January 23, 1885, I doubt he would have imagined its potential growth, spread over a century and...
