Many studies demonstrate that milk consumption improves health and lowers an individual's risk of chronic disease. For over 50 years, the concept of eating healthy has been synonymous with avoiding dietary...
In the decades ahead, climate change is expected to make heat stress an increasingly bigger problem for dairy cows everywhere. Breeding animals with more natural resistance is one way farmers will cope,...
Life does truly go full circle. Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to be on the speaking docket with Scott Armbrust, D.V.M., at the Livestock Genetics Export Seminar in Madison, Wis
April is National Grilled Cheese Month. Just the thought of warm melting cheese on hot buttered toast stimulates the taste buds. Delighted customers foster the continued consumption of dairy products....
If you were raised on a tie stall dairy, you quickly learned that a cow's appetite dropped well before her milk yield showed signs of slowing. As our industry has transitioned from this one-on-one setup,...
More than 15 percent of U.S. milk was exported in 2013. That equates to one out of every seven U.S. tanker loads of milk being turned into products destined for overseas
A variety of people are choosing organic foods, leaving an upside of opportunity for organic dairy production. Organic sales are driven by people wanting to make better choices. Organic is one of those...
"How can I improve my dairy farm?" It was an unexpected question from a Ugandan dairy farmer to the group - an assembly of one Canadian, two American and 12 European farm writers touring farms in this...
February and March have brought new reminders that nondairy events almost anywhere in the world can affect milk production costs on U.S. farms. The latest examples continue to bring new price volatility...
Several swollen hocks or neck abscesses might tell us that our stalls need more bedding or our neck rail height needs to be adjusted. Similarly, bruises on a carcass can reveal a lot about welfare once...
Like many of you, the Hoard's Dairyman Farm met its match this winter. Amidst frozen feed, frozen pipes and a few calves lost too soon, we've battled unpredicted and unforeseen cold. And, as every member...
Tighter heifer management could be a window of opportunity for many herds. A heifer needs to make about 33,000 pounds of milk to repay her rearing costs, said Cheryl Marti, a dairy production specialist...
It's over half of the frozen desserts consumed. There was a time when ice cream was just for the affluent. With the advent of insulated ice houses in the early 1800s, it could stay cold. Ice cream is a...
The gap between milk demand and supply is widening in the world's largest country. This is a great time to be a milk producer in China. It's an even better time to be a high-quality producer. But it's...
Maybe it was the inch or so of rain that had fallen during the previous several days, or maybe the perpetual optimism that goes with being a farmer of any kind. Either way, there was no panic about the...
"Bacteria must be kept away from the teat ends. Fundamentally, 99 percent of the time mastitis occurs when the ability of the teat end sphincter to control bacteria is exceeded. To control mastitis, the...
Dairy cows, particularly Holsteins, are slowly declining in conception rate. It's a decades-old trend that robs profitability from milk producers and threatens the long-term viability of the dairy industry
While it's not time to make hay just yet, it is time to get the wheels in motion for this year's cropping season. The bane of growing crops lies in our inability to predict the weather
