Comforting a child during hard life lessons. Losing a favorite cow at any age can be heartbreaking, but it seems to sting even more when you're young. Not only do you lose an animal, but you also lose...
One Michigan dairyman took a unique approach at romance. You know you're a dairy farmer when . . . You propose to your girlfriend using cow manure. It may sound like a joke you would hear from a Jeff Foxworthy...
Youth take a "go big or go home" approach to competition. "You are betting all your points in Final Jeopardy," stated the moderator when speaking to California's Alexandra (Alex) Gambonini. The 120 points...
How youth activities helped me step outside of my comfort zone. Small, quiet, and shy. Those were some of the words that best described me as a young child. I preferred working with my animals and keeping...
Being part of a breed association goes beyond genetic benefits to lifelong connections and friendships. Summer marks the season for barbeques, s'mores around the campfire, and family outings and vacations....
Are you ready to handle triplets on your farm? As farmers, we learn to always expect the unexpected. But when triplets arrive on the dairy, it is understandable to be in shock. Surprised was my reaction...
Regular maintenance helps us maintain our freestall barn in top working condition. We moved from a pasture based operation to our conventional freestall barn in 2009. At that time, a dairyman friend of...
A recent interview in The Washington Post with the renowned animal welfare specialist leaves many in dairy circles with unanswered questions. With all due respect to Temple Grandin, and the research she...
When it comes to controlling lameness, the most effective footbath immerses each hoof more than once. Is lameness an issue in your herd? If so, you are not alone. According to Nigel Cook, D.V.M., from...
Hand-scoring and double-checks is still the most efficient for us. The Cow Judging Contest has been part of the Hoard's Dairyman brand for 86 years. Images of the cows were originally printed in just black...
Long-term growth and short-term fluctuation are the new norm for commodity markets. In Kansas this past weekend, my relatives woke up to a blanket of snow. Almost 3 inches fell there overnight and greeted...
A twist on pretty will debut at a Canadian cattle show in April. While no beauty pageant exists just for young ladies with IQs above 120, there is a pageant of sorts debuting in Canada next month for heifers...
Event celebrates the value of food production in our world. Tuesday, March 15 is National Agriculture Day, which marks the 43rd year of celebrating the ways agriculture impacts everyone. This year's theme...
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...
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...
Major renovations will be made to the Oklahoma State University Dairy thanks to a generous gift from a former student. Who would have thought that a love story from years past would lead to new state-of-the-art...
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...
