Last year, the United States saw another drop in farm acres and number of farms, but productivity filled the gap. Our nation's farmers are faced with the continuous challenge of doing more with less. The...
Crisis management is intimidating to address but essential for long-term success. When I was 12, my family had an experience that significantly altered our operation. At 11 p.m. in the middle of wheat...
Only 1,631 farms left, but it was still the 22nd yearly decline in a row. "Get out while the getting is good" saw 1,631 U.S. dairies leave the industry in 2014. According to data released earlier this...
Up just 1,000 cells/mL, SCC reverted to 2012 levels this past year.After trending downward for nearly a decade, the somatic cell count average of herds enrolled in Dairy HerdInformation (DHI) testing rose...
Complimentary professional services for dairymen are available to Wisconsin farmers. When things get tough for dairy producers, they look for help. A family member, friend or trusted confidant can be...
A PCR assay can enhance your milk quality diagnostics. The incorporation of a robust diagnostic strategy has been promoted heavily in recent years as a way to identify the predominant pathogens causing...
DHIA milk sample-based method is 91 percent accurate identifying herd prevalence. Next to mastitis, perhaps no subclinical health problem is as common, as unseen (if not outright ignored) or as costly...
Keep fresh cows "fresher" by identifying high risk cows early on. The high-risk fresh cow: She's older (third lactation or greater), had a difficult calving and is battling lameness. She had a longer lactation...
"I'm fine." How many times have family members commented when a loved one looks under the weather and got that response? I venture a lot if you deal with farmers. They are the "no excuses, gotta get work...
"One of the most important events on a dairy is calving," said Mark Thomas, D.V.M., a New York veterinarian and consultant with Dairy Health and Management Services, LLC
Slowly but surely, the average quality of U.S. milk is becoming amazingly good. In 2013, for the 12th year in a row, the nationwide average somatic cell count (SCC) for all cows on Dairy Herd Information...
Research sheds additional light on the specific effects of mastitis on reproductive efficiencies. The dairy cow's internal balance can often be a fragile thing, and it is never more apparent than when...
Producer seminars are an early part of a five-year, $3 million grant from USDA. by Dennis Halladay, Hoard's Dairyman Western Editor The best description of genomics I have ever heard came this week from...
It's the time of year when children dream. And there is no better time to "dream big" than Christmas. There seems to be less guilt about asking for things during the holidays as compared to other times...
Little by little, cow milking is evolving from manual to automated. Not just for small herds, but for everyone. Adoption of robotic milking technology, whether as individual "box" units or as automated...
Take a seat, have a taste . . . and say hello to farmer Frank. None of these are part of the grocery store shopping experience today, but "Supermarket Guru" and NBC Television Today Show food trends editor...
Three dairy judging contests were held at the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) in Louisville, Ky., on Sunday, November 9. In all, 51 teams participated in the collegiate, post-secondary...
When mastitis was detected in the week after insemination, the likelihood of the cow carrying a calf was greatly diminished. A dairy's success or failure hinges on a number of variables, one of which is...
