You may be facing challenges with the availability and expense of common bedding sources such as sawdust or the management of sand bedding. In recent years recycled manure solids have become a more prevalent...
The cost of raising children increased again last year. That is no surprise with the cost of food and gasoline rising for everyone. According to Expenditures on Children by Families, a child born in 2011...
On Friday June 15, the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding released its road map for operational and financial aspects of how U.S. genetic evaluations might be carried out once USDA takes a step back from...
Crude prices have dropped 24 percent this year, but dairy producers shouldn't hold their breath. by Dennis Halladay, Hoard's Dairyman Western Editor The financial highway for dairies always seems to be...
Oftentimes when feed prices rise, your gut reaction is to start pulling high-priced ingredients from the ration. While cows need nutrients and not particular ingredients, rapid dietary changes negatively...
We posted a photo yesterday on our Hoard's Dairyman Facebook page of a well-dressed young man standing at the end of his dairy barn with rose petals sprinkled down the alley. We thought it was a unique...
Economist Herbert Stein (1916-1999) had a keen wit and ability to sum up complex financial concepts in simple ways. A former chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, he is best remembered...
South Dakota State University student becomes the 24th Hoard's Dairyman Editorial Intern. For the past 24 years, the Hoard's Dairyman editorial team has looked forward to welcoming our editorial intern...
"Many retailers understand the science behind food production practices, but their customers do not," noted Charlie Arnot with the Center for Food Integrity (CFI), at the 2012 North American Strategy Conference...
Hosted by "Survivor: Cook Islands" winner, Yul Kwon, the most recent PBS series, "America Revealed," provides a general overview of four key systems that keep our nation thriving: food, energy, manufacturing,...
A recent article from The Wall Street Journal, paired with our analysis, shows agriculture majors still have some worth. It seems like agriculture majors just can't catch a break. Last year, The Daily...
Big changes and much stricter rules are looking very likely. Enormous change appears to be coming in the way dairies and other livestock operations are accustomed to using pharmaceuticals on their animals,...
If you are planning an event, whether a farm tour or school visit, now is the time to start gathering material. There are several resources available to help producers promote the dairy industry and dairy...
Ignorance on food processing bruises producers, processors, and people.by Hoard's Dairyman staff Recent media hype, by a select few, has drawn an outcry of attention to food safety concerns – concerns...
This year's conference "Got Manure?" featured a preconference tour of three New York digester systems. Methane digester interest continues to grow, as a near capacity crowd filled the conference room at...
A number of dairy processors have implemented or reconfirmed delivery constraints. U.S. milk production is heading up, up, and up with milk flow growing 2.5, 3.4, and 4.3 percent nationally in December,...
And, how are we changing over time? Financially, every business, whether it is dairy related or not, faces an array of challenges and opportunities that impact profitability and future success
We've talked to quite a few Western dairy producers in the last four weeks, and what they've told us paints a picture that is filled with concern. Hay prices are still crazy. Widespread hopes that they...
Humanizing animals (or anthropomorphizing, in a word) may seem like the right thing to do. But unless we keep humans exceptional, what could happen? Sure, calves are cute. Cows can be nice. And bulls might...
"Negative 500 and positive 500 average out to 0. Genomics enables you to look for the inferior calves that can pull your average down and move your progress backward," noted Pat Hoffman, a dairy replacement...
