"Wow, the Holsteins here are smaller than the ones back home!" I said while walking to work with a co-worker. "You must be American. Those black and whites are Friesians, not Holsteins." This was one of...
New Zealand has followed a similar economic trend to its biggest customer, supplier, and investor, Australia, and it hasn't been pretty. But New Zealand is now beginning to mimic Australia's resource-driven...
Last week, I attended the National Holstein Convention in Virginia, and so did over 1,000 Holstein enthusiasts from across the United States. The four-day event was full of meetings, tours, junior competitions,...
Western herds' net income ranged from $89 to $252 per head last year, reports Moore, Stephens, Wurth, Frazer, and Torbet, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants. That compares to $585 to $962 losses...
Farm safety is always an important discussion topic, but sometimes we forget about farm safety when machinery leaves the farm to travel on public roads. Tractor and machinery traffic has risen now that...
Ben Logan's The Land Remembers was originally published in 1975. He is now 90 years old and lives in Viroqua, Wis. Photo by Caroline Beckett used with permission of Itchy Cat Press. As a transplant to...
At the Environmental Protection Agency's AgSTAR (http://www.epa.gov/agstar/) conference this week, we will hear from experts on the latest and greatest things happening with anaerobic digesters. Yesterday,...
It may not seem like spring weather, but spring is here! That means it's time to clean, replace, and check on your equipment and facilities. David Bray at the University of Florida provided several items...
The Cooperative Network, a federation of cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin, held their annual dairy policy and leadership conference yesterday and today in Rochester, Minn. On Tuesday, a panel of...
At the Hoard Farm's recent classification, farm manager Jason Yurs and the Hoard's Dairyman editors were discussing the best bulls used over the past decade. Idle Gold E Challenge-ET 1GU418 topped the...
At the Hoard Farm's recent classification, farm manager Jason Yurs and the Hoard's Dairyman editors were discussing the best bulls used over the past decade. Idle Gold E Challenge-ET 1GU418 topped the...
Whole Foods Market is phasing in a new five-step animal welfare rating program for all chicken, beef, and pork products (Click here for their animal welfare page). At the least, all animal products must...
After completing the most comprehensive study on a genetically engineered (GE) crop in the nation's history, the organic community is still not satisfied with USDA's recent decision to make Roundup Ready...
We are globally connected. The earthquake, tsunami, and pending nuclear crisis in Japan have reminded us of that. We first need to reflect and be thankful for our own families and loved ones as we watch...
It's that time of year. The snow is about to leave us, baseball games will be televised, and demand for ice cream will increase. In theory, higher milk prices, feed costs, and haymaking season will be...
We are quite familiar with the phase, "We all learn from our mistakes." Nothing smacks you in the face as a poor decision, but, once that mistake is made, it is rarely repeated by the same person. We need...
The size of the turnout spoke volumes about interest in the subject material at the "Dairy Financing Conference" February 22 in Visalia, Calif. Over 120 people – dairy owners, bankers, co-op leaders,...
Meeting in Arlington, Va., near the nation's capital, the 50th Annual Meeting of the National Mastitis Council was both festive and productive. There was plenty of fun and reminiscing sprinkled amid the...
Between a forecast for lower milk prices and the likelihood of higher feed costs, it's hard to not have a gloomy financial outlook for U.S. milk producers in 2011. Sorry. Amid the dreariness, however,...
Years ago, bunkers were only known as a military hide-out. Those bunkers were safe. The bunkers on our dairy farms can be anything but. Deaths can and do occur because of poor face management, accidental...
