Tractors hit the road with renewed vigor over the holiday weekend in America's Dairyland. As is the case in many dairy states with a cropping emphasis, the pressure is on to apply manure, work ground and...
For a good part of my childhood and most of my high school and college years, I have been the employee at my parents' 150-cow dairy in Valley Center, Kan. Like most farm children, I headed up calf care
It was obvious who the clown was in this federal court case: an evil one whose underhanded methods were exposed for the world to see. Last week in a federal District Court in Washington, D.C., HSUS (Humane...
We live in a world that places a heavy emphasis on health and fitness. Within the past decade, food consumption habits have changed drastically, as people strive to improve their dietary choices
Running any family business is challenging. The complexities of farming only add to that challenge. As with every business there are different personalities to work with, emotions that run high
This time it's okay to play on your computer at work. "Dairy Land" is a new interactive online game unveiled May 5 by the Washington Dairy Products Commission (WDPC). It's a fun and very educational take...
When it rained, it didn't pour in California last year. As a result, the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) has officially declared 2013 the driest year since records began being kept in 1895
Dairy producers are living a milk price dream right now, even though scars from the nightmare five years ago are not fully healed. It's a bust-to-boom turnaround of staggering proportions that producers...
Still a long road ahead of us. By Patti Hurtgen, Hoard's Dairyman Online Media Manager Based on 2014 data, 29 percent of American food consumers think food companies are trustworthy. With 44 percent neutral...
It's shaping up to be an expensive summer for hay in the West. By mid-April, prices for supreme and premium quality alfalfa were already over $300 per ton in some of the region's largest dairy states,...
Tracking feed inventory is a valuable strategy for any size farm, especially with the growing unpredictability of Mother Nature and a more volatile commodity market
In the decades ahead, climate change is expected to make heat stress an increasingly bigger problem for dairy cows everywhere. Breeding animals with more natural resistance is one way farmers will cope,...
"Farm size is a lightning rod for criticism in agriculture," said Dan Weary as he spoke to those attending the April 14 Hoard's Dairyman webinar, "Cow welfare and farm size – challenges and opportunities"
Life does truly go full circle. Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to be on the speaking docket with Scott Armbrust, D.V.M., at the Livestock Genetics Export Seminar in Madison, Wis
The Federal Department of Absurd – er, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – is an entity that regularly seems to defy common sense and logic. This is yet another example: Smoking is a proven...
Record milk prices give milk producers a financial opportunity that is simply too good to ignore – dry pen and hospital pen cooling. They're no-brainer investments whose benefits touch every area...
To treat or not to treat is a question whose answer once seemed obvious: treat every clinical mastitis case found, and treat every cow at dry-off. But things have changed. Public perception is intensifying...
It's a refreshing new trend: farmers and lawmakers saying "no" to groups that think they are entitled to obtaining private information about farmers and then making it public
February and March have brought new reminders that nondairy events almost anywhere in the world can affect milk production costs on U.S. farms. The latest examples continue to bring new price volatility...
Even during a down year, the average U.S. dairy grew in 2013. Both average herd size and milk production per cow went up - herd size by a lot and production per cow by a little. The result was a big bump...
