The Secretary of Labor, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, is charged with prohibiting employment of youth in occupations that she deems particularly hazardous. The current target, as they propose to...
We drove through central and southern Illinois on the way to and from the joint American Association of Bovine Practitioners and National Mastitis Council meeting in St. Louis, Mo
Growing up in a populous dairy region, I often failed to recognize how expansive our local dairy infrastructure actually was. If we faced a milking equipment break down, someone was there, within the hour,...
Here's a quick dairy farming quiz: What three things do all dairies have a constant supply of? Some easy answers are cows, milk . . . and manure. All day and every day, manure never stops coming. The hard...
Guess which costs more: far away by ship or close by truck? Milk-cow-quality alfalfa hay is already over $300 per ton in California which isn't making this a fun summer for dairy producers there. An article...
New Zealand has followed a similar economic trend to its biggest customer, supplier, and investor, Australia, and it hasn't been pretty. But New Zealand is now beginning to mimic Australia's resource-driven...
We've talked about it before (see our blog, Wars we wage in dairy and agriculture and our editorial from the June 2011 issue, Keep chocolate milk in schools), but, like heat in the summer, the issue of...
Every day a milk truck comes to Shoestring Dairy. We exchange our normal "G'day Mate," then the friendly man hooks up the hose and pumps our cows' hard work from our tank into the truck. He prints off...
U.S. dairy exports are on the upswing, according to the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service's Summary of U.S. Dairy Exports released June 9, 2011. During the February to April 2011 time period, exports...
Last weekend several members of the Hoard's Dairyman staff had the opportunity to attend and volunteer at Cows on the Concourse on the square surrounding Madison's capitol building. A dedicated group of...
Farm safety is always an important discussion topic, but sometimes we forget about farm safety when machinery leaves the farm to travel on public roads. Tractor and machinery traffic has risen now that...
It may not seem like spring weather, but spring is here! That means it's time to clean, replace, and check on your equipment and facilities. David Bray at the University of Florida provided several items...
We are globally connected. The earthquake, tsunami, and pending nuclear crisis in Japan have reminded us of that. We first need to reflect and be thankful for our own families and loved ones as we watch...
Even though costs, especially feed costs, are climbing, so are milk prices, and the prospect of higher milk prices have put many dairymen and their suppliers in a more positive mood. That is evident in...
We are quite familiar with the phase, "We all learn from our mistakes." Nothing smacks you in the face as a poor decision, but, once that mistake is made, it is rarely repeated by the same person. We need...
Most of the focus on 2011 U.S. planted acreage centers on corn acreage. There are a number of reasons for that focus, according to Darrel Good, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois....
"There's a love affair with dairy around the globe," said International Dairy Foods Association's Chief Executive Office, Connie Tipton at the 26th annual Dairy Forum in Miami, Fla., on Monday, January...
It's just one state and it may not reflect what is happening across the rest of U.S. agriculture, but it's still good news in an industry that can certainly use some: Farmland values in Indiana are shooting...
Rollover protection systems (ROPS) save lives. When ROPS are used with seat belts, 99 percent of tractor drivers survive rollover accidents. And, even if the seat belt isn't worn, 70 percent of drivers...
