This time it's okay to play on your computer at work. "Dairy Land" is a new interactive online game unveiled May 5 by the Washington Dairy Products Commission (WDPC). It's a fun and very educational take...
Still a long road ahead of us. By Patti Hurtgen, Hoard's Dairyman Online Media Manager Based on 2014 data, 29 percent of American food consumers think food companies are trustworthy. With 44 percent neutral...
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,...
Accurate samples are the cornerstone of diet formulation. Yet, for some nutrients, sampling itself is a major source of the variation seen from one nutrient analysis to the next
The Federal Department of Absurd – er, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – is an entity that regularly seems to defy common sense and logic. This is yet another example: Smoking is a proven...
We've been indoctrinated with the five C's to give calves their best possible start. Colostrum tops this list, followed by calories, cleanliness, comfort and consistency. Despite the order we've all been...
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....
I recently read a report on "The Enough Movement" and thought I would share its findings. It addresses world hunger and looks at not only food quantity, but quality. Most often when we think of not having...
Most of us grew up being taught that there was one gene and two alleles involved in the coat color of our Holsteins . . . with the black allele being dominant over the recessive red allele
"Beef is in the global marketplace," reminded University of Wisconsin-Madison Animal Sciences Department Chairman Dan Schaefer. Depending whether it is beef, pork or poultry, about 10 to 25 percent is...
When it comes to finding sick cows, tie stall herds have the upper hand. As we have transitioned our dairies from this individual care system to managing groups, illness detection has become one of our...
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...
Most of the time, a single type of bacteria will cause mastitis. When multiple strains are recovered the milk sample is almost useless. It becomes difficult to interpret which bacteria is the culprit,...
Have a winter emergency plan. Winter is not just about cold weather with frozen pipes, slippery concrete and snow shoveling. High volumes of snow can lead to barn collapses. At 3:30 a.m., 70-feet of roof...
"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...
As new farm buildings go up, older ones stand empty. When milking herds grow, there are more calves to raise. Does it make sense to repurpose empty buildings to house young stock?
Cows spend their days doing core activities, like sleeping and eating, and luxury activities, like playing and exploring. Luxury activity will decline when time or energy resources are limited during stress...
DDGS prices have actually gone up since last summer. If the price goes down for a commodity whose processing waste is a by-product feed for cows, then the price of that feed will go down too, right? So...
