Turnout at last week's 12th Western Dairy Management Conference almost set a record. There are three U.S. dairy industry events that are so well known around the world that milk producers often refer to...
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...
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...
Raising dairy steers can be a profitable venture, but consider how it will impact the rest of your operation before jumping in headfirst. Beef prices are exceptionally high. Beef cattle numbers are near...
While forage procurement and feeding play a huge role in the success of high-producing herds, they aren't the only factors. Reproduction and milk quality are critical elements, too. Each winter, 24 of...
In difficult economic times, we become better managers. Shrink is one area where we can tighten our belts. Dairy rations are balanced on the cents per cow that an ingredient will add to or cut from a feed...
Running a business has a lot to do with building and maintaining relationships, and for a farm, an extremely important relationship is the one with their lender. The foundation of that relationship is...
Global warming or not, the world's climate is changing. In the United States, greater variability in precipitation patterns, more pronounced differences in weather between regions, and rising average temperatures...
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...
Is the trend motivated by cost or convenience? Just about anyone could guess that health care, housing and transportation costs were higher in 2013. And they'd be right. Americans have cut back across...
Simply guessing as to the cause is part of the problem. Death loss is a challenge to every producer. Minimizing early removals from the herd should be the goal, but it starts with an understanding of the...
"In the best-case scenario, we'll lose only 2 to 3 percent of our harvested forage tons to fermentation shrink," noted John Goeser, Rock River Laboratory, at the Penn State Dairy Nutrition Conference
A small dairy area in far-northern California climbed aboard the anti-GMO bandwagon on Tuesday, when voters in Humboldt County approved the "Genetic Contamination Prevention Ordinance" by a 59 to 41 percent...
Harvest is finally under way on the nation's cotton crop after being delayed by a cooler summer in many major growing areas. That means what has historically been the best time to shop for whole cottonseed...
First seek to understand, then act on the new farm bill's new dairy component. The recent Farm Bill eliminates the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) and replaces it with a Margin Protection Program (MPP-Dairy)....
Farm milk prices in the U.S. have somehow and so far managed to defy the gravitational pull of rising production and falling international dairy product prices. But not in Europe, where changes in global...
Fifty years after its formation, the Red and White Dairy Cattle Association (RWDCA) returned to its roots by hosting its 2014 national convention in Elkhorn, Wis
How do you know where you're going if you don't know where you are? Tracking various aspects of your dairy business is one of the biggest contributors to your financial success. The reasons to keep records...
