Students write essays to connect farming with their food. This spring, Wisconsin's Ag in the Classroom program held an essay contest. Fourth and fifth grade students from across the state wrote one-page...
The drought has been hard on pastureland, so extra attention should be given to prepare paddocks for this growing season. The drought that affected much of the United States last summer will likely have...
A moderating drought in Oceania has caused prices to drop slightly from the recent highs. However, tighter than expected global supplies should keep dairy product prices stronger than originally expected....
Delegates to the National Conference on Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) veto a reduction to a 400,000 SCC. Once again, a National Milk Producers Federation proposal to bring the U.S. somatic cell count...
My travels in Australia last month included a visit to a dairy farm and milk processing facility. One-hundred-twenty Guernsey cows grazed the pastured hills in Maleny, in the state of Queensland, Australia,...
Earlier this month, I attended the Royal Easter Show held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The dairy show is part of a larger event, similar to a very large state fair, with cattle, agriculture and...
Dairy cows struggle to maintain normal blood calcium levels at the start of each lactation. Colostrum and milk both use a large amount of calcium, and the cow must suddenly adjust for this rapid nutrient...
While genomics is new to Ayrshire breeders this April, and it has gradually made inroads in Brown Swiss circles, the DNA-based science has completely transformed how we mate and market Holsteins and Jerseys
Earlier this week, we addressed Ryan Gosling's letter to NMPF (National Milk Producers Federation) in regards to the practice of dehorning (www.hoards.com/blog_dehorning-calves)
Few things can irritate a person like finding out they overpaid for a product or did not sell their own for its true value. In the April 8 Hoard's Dairyman "Reviewing forage and feed costs – What's...
The farm bill came very close to passage last year. As part of that comprehensive national farm law, the Dairy Security Act (DSA) would have become the dairy portion of the farm bill
In the past few years, it seems as if agricultural majors have received a great deal of flack. In 2011, The Daily Beast (an online news information site) listed "agriculture" as their third most useless...
When is chocolate milk not "milk"? I must admit when I first read blog posts that indicated aspartame could be added to milk and hidden from consumers, it both irritated and confused me at the same time....
The Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) took its first official action relating to the transition of U.S. genetic evaluations by releasing the fee schedule for genomic evaluations
Members, delegates, directors and employees of the Associated Milk Producers Cooperative met in Bloomington, Minn., for its annual meeting on March 25 and 26
After presenting various terms to describe those that work with dairy cattle everyday, we have the results of our survey, mentioned in our blog a few weeks ago. In total, there were 97 respondents. Men...
On conventional dairy farms, antibiotics have a place in treating sick animals but never in the milk or meat sold by the farm. Consumers can drink milk happily and safely thanks to the efforts put forth...
Mastitis has severe economic consequences costing, on average, $200 or more per case. The disease also impairs cattle well being. While prevention is preferred, there are a number of technologies that...
