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,...
Welcome to Hoard's @ Expo! The staff at Hoard's Dairyman has prepared this section just for youwith pre-show stories, schedules, history, photos and our Hoard's @ Expo blog. We'll be posting new content...
Despite the higher-than-normal temperatures experienced in many areas, U.S. milk production in August shot up 2.7 percent over a year ago. During August, there was a 2.9 percent rise in milk per cow over...
Rotary milking parlors were invented in the 1920s. The first industrial robot went into operation at a General Motors auto assembly plant in 1961. The microprocessor was invented by Intel in 1971. Robotic...
USDA's forecast milk production for 2010 and 2011 was raised from last month in the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates released late last week. Producers continue to add cows to their herds,...
Over 600 people came to Knigge Farms of Omro, Wis., to celebrate the 10th anniversary of robotic milking in the United States. It was in August 2000 that Pete and Theo Knigge, and their son, Charlie, installed...
This is one of my favorite quotes. Past National Holstein Association president and dairy producer Doug Maddox of California encourages adults to see the value in giving a young person the chance to work...
Slowly, but surely, modest profitability is returning for U.S. dairy producers. Even so, few are relaxing just yet. Both of the major financial barometers they watch – Class III milk and 40-pound...
Recently released dairy product consumption figures for 2009 are encouraging. Looking at consumption on a per-person or per-capita basis always is informative, because that accounts for changes in the...
The deep financial cuts suffered by Western dairy producers last year still have a long way to go before they heal, but attitudes out there really do seem to be getting better. In recent weeks, we've visited...
The most current USDA forecast continues the trend of lower cow numbers that has been more than offset by higher output per cow in 2010. Output per cow is expected to rise by 2.5 percent compared with...
In the rush of the end of summer, most of us find ourselves at some sort of fair or another. For Minnesotans, it usually means the State Fair - twelve days of fun that always end on labor day. During the...
Now when temperatures heat up in California, so will the responsibility of dairy and other farm owners to provide heat safety protection for their employees. On August 20, the State Occupational Safety...
Two new genomic tests just hit the market. Not only can Holstein breeders test females on the traditional 50K test, but they can also use the just released 3K SNP (single-nucleotide polymorphism) and
2009 was an awful year for producer milk prices, but another good one for milk quality. According to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, average bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC) for...
Released this afternoon, July milk from the 23 major dairy states was up 3 percent from July 2009 totaling 15.2 billion pounds from 8.37 million head. That gain is 2.9 percent higher than June totals....
Corn production is forecast at a record high 13.4 billion bushels, up 2 percent from the previous record set in 2009, according to USDA's Crop Production report issued yesterday. Based on conditions as...
The dairy industry has a lot of catching up to do in the snack world. Dairy products accounted for less than 3 percent of the $93.5 billion dollars spent on snack foods in 2009. Snacking: Identifying a...
How deep a financial hole did milk producers dig in 2009? It was "Lassie, go get help!" deep. It was a horribly serious situation whose magnitude was simply absurd. High feed costs and a collapse in milk...
