121.5 million dairy farms exist on our planet. By Patti Hurtgen, Hoard's Dairyman Online Media Manager Yep! Those numbers are current. They are based on worldwide data. Initially, your reaction might be...
Whether you're in the barn or the showring, you have to stay calm. You never know who's watching. by Hannah Thompson Earlier this year, I was in the crowd at a county fair's dairy show for the supreme...
The employment rate in rural America is slowly recovering after the recession. Many of us working in agriculture, myself included, grew up in the country. I think most "country kids" would agree that small...
A warming box can save young calves born during the frigid cold. There's definitely a chill in the air, and for those of us in Northern climates, that chill is not going away any time soon. Falling temperatures...
That creamy spread hasn't changed, but its public perception has. Butter is back! On family tables and restaurant menus, our old friend is asking consumers to rethink this dairy staple. Dairy Management...
Producers who are most ahead are those who didn't sign up at all. No matter what kind of insurance a dairy owner has, not needing to use it means nothing bad has happened, which is exactly what they hope...
When cows' light exposure is limited during the dry period, a milk production boost in the next lactation is likely. When light hits the eye, a cascade of hormonal events is triggered in the brain's pineal...
Introducing heifers to the milking barn or parlor before calving may be the ticket to reducing stress. When a dairy heifer has its first calf, its world changes dramatically. A first-lactation heifer is...
When we throw away food, we are tossing more than just nutrients into the trash. No doubt, water is a valuable resource. We use it every single day in a multitude of ways. When water supplies get tight,...
One Wisconsin county is looking to take advantage of new manure treatment technology to turn manure into usable water. Manure may be animal waste, but a complete waste it is not. The nutrients in manure...
Choosing the correct bedding material for your farm's system is an integral part of managing milk quality and production. Selecting the ideal bedding for a farm can be a difficult and intensive project....
Genomic testing can benefit a dairy if the results are utilized; one Idaho dairyman shared his thoughts on the use of this technology on farm. When the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) held its...
Having grown up working in the dairy industry, I know firsthand how hard dairy farm families work to make cow comfort and safety a top priority. Unfortunately, animal rights groups, with the ultimate goal...
The success of a robotic milking system depends on four good feet to get each cow to the robot with ease. "Healthy feet are absolutely critical for success in robot barns," said Jack Rodenburg from DairyLogix...
Cows in Wisconsin had a lot, cows in California did not. Two very different songs sum up what milk production per cow was like in the nation's two biggest dairy states this summer. In Wisconsin it was...
Students interested in dairy and journalism are encouraged to apply for the 2016 Hoard's Dairyman editorial internship. College students often find themselves faced with the question, "What do you plan...
USDA slightly cuts its average bushels per acre forecast. Across the U.S., cornfields are clearing out and silage bunkers are filling fast. And as they do, USDA has slightly changed its mind about just...
Webinar stresses the importance of diligent administration protocols. "People are not perfect," stated Pam Ruegg, D.V.M., with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For that reason, every attempt should...
Sanitary feeding equipment is a vital part of the calf health equation, especially early in life. The equipment used to feed calves on your farm may look clean, but is it really? Oftentimes, there's more...
Performance evaluations identify the milking routine bottlenecks that are holding your herd back. Farms operate on pennies and seconds. The pennies saved per head after a ration reformulation can equate...
