On Friday June 15, the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding released its road map for operational and financial aspects of how U.S. genetic evaluations might be carried out once USDA takes a step back from...

In the brief period that the number of licensed U.S. dairies has been tracked (19 years), the trend is as frightening as it is obvious: the total gets smaller every year. That trend is a warning for every...

It can be a struggle to keep calf pens stocked with dry bedding, especially when the weather isn't on our side, but recent work shows that it matters

"Many retailers understand the science behind food production practices, but their customers do not," noted Charlie Arnot with the Center for Food Integrity (CFI), at the 2012 North American Strategy Conference...

We can buy happiness. That seems to be a pie-in-the-sky statement, but what if I told you researcher Michael Norton has proven we can?

After over two years of discussion, industry leaders have begun to publicly share draft documents which could one day guide U.S. genetic evaluations. The first document, known as the Cooperative Agreement,...

Did your herd's average somatic cell count drop a little in 2011? Chances are it did, according to USDA and the National Dairy Herd Improvement Association. The annual report by the Animal Improvement...

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...

Confirmation reached the Hoard's Dairyman offices that a BSE case had been found in a California dairy cow shortly after 2 p.m. Central time yesterday. Thoughts of "the Christmas surprise" of 2003 (the...

A recent article from The Wall Street Journal, paired with our analysis, shows agriculture majors still have some worth. It seems like agriculture majors just can't catch a break. Last year, The Daily...

It was 1948 when Cornelis and Arij van der Lely invented the finger-wheel rake. Since then, Lely has aimed to improve manual tasks in many areas of agriculture and other industries. We sat down with Chad...

At the onset of lactation, metabolic adaption mechanisms for calcium are not rapid enough; cows need a day or two to maximize calcium flows from the intestinal tract and bone to the mammary gland

Most are easily preventable . . . and can be very expensive if they aren't. The specific list of most common dairy violations varies from state to state, but not by much, says Blane Adams, a loss control...

The twin combo of more milk per cow and a larger dairy herd pushed up milk production last year. When looking at the year-end statistics released by USDA, cow numbers went up 75,000-head or 0.8 percent...

Nationally, the breed set new production averages. Based on a record of 91,028 lactations, the Jersey breed set new category records for pounds of milk, fat, and protein. In 2011, the breed averaged 18,633...

Based on a record of 91,028 lactations, the Jersey breed set new category records for pounds of milk, fat, and protein. In 2011, the breed averaged 18,633 pounds of milk, 889 pounds of fat, and 676 pounds...

In recent weeks, the silence following the October 2011 gathering of the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) was broken when Dave Thorbahn shared a Frequently Asked Questions article with the dairy...

Recent studies show drinking milk enhances the cognitive brain activity of dairy consumers. We've heard the time-tested slogan "Milk, it does a body good!" Well, new research from the University of Maine...

Yesterday, we again had the pleasure of hearing Ken Nordlund, D.V.M., speak on the Transition Cow Index (TCI) patented by the University of Wisconsin

The next time you purchase beef or pork from the grocery store or butcher shop look at the label. Prior to March 1, 2012, the nutrition facts label on these cuts of meat will be updated to more accurately...