“If you can feed B vitamins at an economical price, do it!” encouraged Mike Hutjens. That was one of the messages viewers received as the University of Illinois nutrition icon
Few things in life are free. Unfortunately for dairy farmers, even incidences of unwanted disease, like lameness, come with a price. The most obvious costs of lameness are associated with treatment
Delaying a herd's age at first calving to 25 months has the potential to cost $45 to $90 per heifer. Age? Weight? Height? If you ask three dairy producers what criteria they use to breed heifers, each...
Herds are getting bigger and more productive, but the cost of employees is rising faster. Everyone who milks cows knows that the dairy industry is struggling with a labor crisis that is only getting worse....
Living and childrearing expenses continue to climb. Family living costs are up for urban and rural residents alike. In a survey of over 1,300 farm families, Illinois farmers reported that their cost of...
"People's lives are written on the fields of old farms." You know that moment when you bump into another farmer and he starts in on a story illustrating the love of what he does? The farmer says he could...
Dairy cows struggle to maintain normal blood calcium levels at the start of each lactation. Colostrum and milk both use a large amount of calcium, and the cow must suddenly adjust for this rapid nutrient...
"You can't just go out there, feed them and squeeze them," was one of the many great financial one-liners Gary Sipiorski shared with a packed audience at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Frankenmuth,...
Youth compete in a variety of contests like dairy judging, dairy bowl and cattle exhibitions. They are known to put in hours of preparation during team practices or train their cattle in the yard for weeks....
by Amanda Smith, Hoard's Dairyman Associate Editor Early and frequent harvesting at the bud stage to yield dairy quality alfalfa comes at a cost to the plant, noted Dan Undersander with the University...
As many college students return to class during the next few weeks, they will pay their fall semester tuition and fees. On top of that, more bills for books, housing and meal plans will need to be paid
Share the safety aspect of your operation to promote prevention by Hoard's Dairyman staff While the warm weather brings a smile to our face, it can be a time of danger. Animal projects for the summer fairs...
Return to Hoard's at Expo Ryan Ebert has been the Art Director at Hoard's Dairyman for the past 8 years. His main responsibility is layout and design of the magazine but his capabilities and duties...
While at the sixth annual AgSTAR conference last week, Jerry Bingold had plenty to announce. First, he explained all the initiatives that the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy was taking part in, and they...
This Tuesday, USDA released its monthly Milk-Feed Price Ratio, which was 2.22 for November, down notably from October's 2.4o. The ratio was 2.26 last November. (The Milk-Feed Price Ratio reflects the pounds...
Can you believe that Thanksgiving is just a week away? I almost did until of course, I spent a good hour of my evening going back and forth with family about what time the big "to-do" should be. One of...
Two releases in recent days help shed light on the milk price and feed cost scene in the months ahead. USDA's monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates and USDA's Crop Production were released...
