Growing up, I never had the most "stylish" animal in the show ring. When selecting bulls with my dad, I was always drawn to the production-focused columns before moving on to stature and type. The reason...
4-H members promote chocolate milk in winning presentation. Hand out the research, spend money on television ads and speak about healthy food choices, but there is something special about hearing the same...
A television show traces actor's ancestry. On a spring day in late May, the phone rang at my family's dairy. A television show wanted to film at our location, as someone famous had relatives that previously...
"Do not compare proven sires PTAs to genomic PTAs. Only compare them within their contemporaries for rankings," cautioned Chad Dechow when presenting "The new world of genetics" during the monthly Hoard's...
A common strategy for spending available dollars on the farm is investing it close to the milk parlor. Areas that tend to get the most attention are the ones that directly affect milk production such as...
Educational games share agriculture's story. "Corn is grown in every state and on six continents." That is just one of the agriculture facts state fair attendees could learn in the American Farm Bureau's...
While all the research conducted by the world's animal scientists is geared towards building a better agricultural system, it's important for everyone to remember that ultimately our number one goal is...
Comfortable cows or easily maintained manure systems. It seems like many dairy producers feel they must choose between one or the other. Sand has a strong reputation for enhancing cow comfort and lowering...
Water quality is paramount to cow health. "My cows are dying. What is going on?" sobbed the 65-year-old dairy producer as his cracked hands cradled his cheeks and covered his swollen eyes. "They calve,...
I am now more than two months into my internship with Hoard's Dairyman. It is pretty incredible to realize how fast it has gone and how much I have learned
Americans are worth more today than ever before, but many still struggle financially. As a group, Americans are the wealthiest they have ever been. This spring household financial wealth was at its peak,...
Webinar shares steps to boost production. One pound of milk per cow per day over your entire herd really adds up over a whole year. In his Monday, July 14, webinar, Mike Hutjens, University of Illinois,...
Growth. Also known as improvement, advancement, prosperity or profit. Defined by Merriam-Webster as "progressive development." Growth on your dairy farm doesn't necessarily mean adding more cows, diversifying...
It's that feeling of hope. The red-carrier Holstein (carrying one copy of the recessive red gene) was bred to a Red and White bull (carrying two copies of the red coat color gene). There was a 50-50 chance...
Gone are the days where every youth at a dairy event resides on a farm. There was a time when nearly every youth showing at a fair, competing in dairy judging or competing in quiz bowl lived and worked...
For the U.S. dairy industry, mastitis carries a $1.7 billion to $2 billion price tag. Reducing the infection risk takes a multi-pronged approach, but keeping cows on their feet a bit longer postmilking...
All 6 DJM Finalists have summer internships in their career field. Last Saturday, six outstanding youth were recognized for their Holstein projects and named National Distinguished Junior Member Finalists,...
The 2014 meetings of the American Jersey Cattle Association and National All-Jersey Inc., took place in Alexandria, Va., just miles away from the nation's capitol
