At the Environmental Protection Agency's AgSTAR (http://www.epa.gov/agstar/) conference this week, we will hear from experts on the latest and greatest things happening with anaerobic digesters. Yesterday,...
If your herd could talk to you about their pen dynamics, what would they say? Would they compliment the soft, bedded freestalls, the wide alley ways, and the roominess of the feedbunk? Or would they be...
We are all familiar with the daily routine on our own farms and maybe how dairy producers in other regions of the country operate their facilities, but a select few have ventured internationally to learn...
At almost the 11th hour, a budget compromise last Friday averted a threatened shutdown of federal government functions. Even though the shutdown was averted, it had some impact. For example, the first...
Last week's Cooperative Network Dairy Directors and Leadership Conference slides are now posted. We did mention the Minneapolis Federal Reserve bank's economic outlook last week
When commodity prices shoot up, growers face tougher decisions about what to plant. They have to consider their own situations in terms of crop rotations, soil and moisture conditions, recent yields, seed...
New USDA analysis shows that farmers are receiving less of each retail dollar spent. Numbers in 2008 showed a 20 percent share, but new data cuts that number to 12 percent of the food dollar going to those...
Higher milk prices and the optimism they inspire are translating into a large, positive crowd this week at the 10th Western Dairy Management Conference in Reno, Nevada, that concludes today. Total registration...
It's that time of year. The snow is about to leave us, baseball games will be televised, and demand for ice cream will increase. In theory, higher milk prices, feed costs, and haymaking season will be...
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...
We understand that in our roles at a magazine, the good news and the bad news is going to come our way. Unfortunately, it seems that in recent years the people who bring us much of the good news are facing...
Bad memories weren't forgotten, but the passage of another year made for a noticeably more upbeat atmosphere Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week at World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif. Credit for some...
Like many of us in the dairy business, our roots are planted deep in history. Not only did Dad grow up on a dairy farm and milk cows daily, but so did Grandpa. That story was true for Bill Payne of Knob...
Do you watch daily Class III milk futures prices at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange? We do. While it's exciting to see rosier financial prospects for the industry in 2011, we're skeptical . . . and wary....
What goes into a "next year's outlook" prediction? Paying attention all year long this year, talking regularly to producers, studying the economic horizon outside the industry, tracking trends, and decades...
Yesterday, the U.S. Senate approved (81 to 19) the big tax package that extends Bush-era tax rates and includes a number of other measures. One of those measures would extend the Volumetric Ethanol Excise...
Winter is here. . . and so is the cold and snow that can be harmful to those of us who work outdoors with livestock. "Bundle up, dress in layers, put on your hat" are familiar sounds to many children who...
4-H, Post Secondary, and College Dairy Judging Contest Winners Full listing of awards at www.hoards.com/hoardsatexpo and click on the blog icon. Return to Hoard's at Expo
Last week, I received a newsletter from my local bank giving parents financial tips for their college students. Some of the items were common sense, but, if their children have never had to handle a budget,...
