If there was one job I truly despised as a kid growing up on a dairy farm, it was helping bed the calf barn, which housed our calves from 3 months of age to around 500 pounds. I just never found a way...
Automatic feeders and group housing are very trendy topics in calf raising today, and for good reason. The opportunity to feed more milk and provide social interaction appears to deliver great benefits...
As I boarded the plane to leave World Dairy Expo last week, the imminent threat of snow had me dreading the predictions of an equally miserable winter to come. Maybe I am jumping the gun, but the Old Farmer's...
There are just six more weeks until the start of World Dairy Expo, and many eyes are curiously watching the progress of the new pavilions at the Alliant Energy Center
As new farm buildings go up, older ones stand empty. When milking herds grow, there are more calves to raise. Does it make sense to repurpose empty buildings to house young stock?
Heightened calf care can keep calves healthy and growing during winter weather. "This is the time of the year where we face the most challenges with raising calves," said Noah Litherland from the University...
Facility design, space and frequent stirring are essential elements in successful compost bedded pack barns. "Compost barns are not your grandfather's bedded pack," explained Jeffrey Bewley, assistant...
Shade, ventilation and water are critical for them. Record heat across the West in recent weeks has driven home a sad and expensive reminder for some dairies: heat stress can kill calves. For those that...
Annual June event entertains and showcases technology. Dane County is home to Wisconsin's state capital, Madison. But, on June 8, the focus went from the city to the country as the Dane County's 35th annual...
Hoard's Dairyman webinar shares insight into feeding calves in group housing. Due to improved building design, ventilation and feeding systems, some producers are now feeding their calves milk in group...
Can't we all just get along? People have their favorite peer groups and cows need them, too. On Monday, January 14, Mike Hutjens, University of Illinois, presented a webinar on cow grouping strategies...
Newest Klussendorf winner, Buddy Fleming with fellow Klussendorf honorees Paul "Buddy" Fleming, Jr., Cortland, N.Y., was named the 71st winner of the Klussendorf Trophy, the highest recognition given to...
The combination of scorching heat and drought conditions heightens the potential for silo gas during harvest. Late-season rainfall on drought-stressed corn in manured fields could produce higher-than-average...
The ninth Hoard's Dairyman webinar of 2012 featured Gordie Jones, a veterinarian and partner at Central Sands Dairy in central Wisconsin. The operation milks 4,000 head in a 72-cow rotary where cows are...
Usually out of sight in the back of the dairy, replacements are also often out of mind when it comes to providing cooling relief during hot weather. But research has repeatedly shown that younger animals...
It's hard to watch milk production drop during extended periods of high temperature. As you try to stay hydrated and cool while working outside during hot and humid temperatures, you must work even harder...
If you can't do everything at once, here's where to start. Dairy cows like cool weather; they do not do like heat or humidity. Some management experts have even described them as "little heaters inside...
Late last week, USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) granted nonregulated status for alfalfa that has been genetically engineered to be resistant to the herbicide commercially known...
