Dairy cows struggle to maintain normal blood calcium levels at the start of each lactation. Colostrum and milk both use a large amount of calcium, and the cow must suddenly adjust for this rapid nutrient...
While genomics is new to Ayrshire breeders this April, and it has gradually made inroads in Brown Swiss circles, the DNA-based science has completely transformed how we mate and market Holsteins and Jerseys
The farm bill came very close to passage last year. As part of that comprehensive national farm law, the Dairy Security Act (DSA) would have become the dairy portion of the farm bill
In the past few years, it seems as if agricultural majors have received a great deal of flack. In 2011, The Daily Beast (an online news information site) listed "agriculture" as their third most useless...
Your milker Miguel just quit, or you just fired him. He has worked for you for 18 months. Your handbook says employees earn a week (five days) of paid vacation per year, which they start earning after...
The Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (CDCB) took its first official action relating to the transition of U.S. genetic evaluations by releasing the fee schedule for genomic evaluations
"The concept of a billion has become devalued as we have gone through the global financial crisis," noted David Hughes, Imperial College-London, at the 2013 Western Canadian Dairy Seminar
As the landscape of the agricultural farmstead has changed from red barns with a variety of livestock and two-story white farmhouses to more single-focused livestock operations, have the words we use changed...
Sequestration went into effect on March 1 as a result of the Budget Control Act. And with it, the federal budget will be reduced by $85 billion this year or $1.2 trillion over the next decade if congressional...
Change is one of the great constants in U.S. dairy farming. The industry has been evolving for most of a century, but especially in the last 20 years. Like an ice skater who draws in their arms while spinning,...
For over half a century, the concept of healthy eating has become synonymous with avoiding fat, especially saturated fats, noted Adam Lock, Michigan State University, at the Southwest Nutrition and Management...
Sometimes we are so close to a topic that we often forget the values and assume everyone else is just as familiar with it as those who are so deeply entrenched. My responsibilities include the online content...
Focusing on "the other bacteria," or emerging mastitis pathogens, Pam Ruegg, University of Wisconsin-Madison, addressed those gathered at the Wisconsin Dairy Field Representative Conference
The weather changes every day, there's no way around it. But is it a trend? Factors outside meteorologists, hurricanes and snowstorms can be offered as proof. I'm giving up on "climate consistency." That's...
"You can't just go out there, feed them and squeeze them," was one of the many great financial one-liners Gary Sipiorski shared with a packed audience at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Frankenmuth,...
Milk Income Loss Contracts (MILC) were automatically extended through September 30, 2013, under the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. There is no need for producers to re-enroll in MILC
"Compared to 1944, milk production per cow is up 443 percent," Dale Bauman told attendees at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Frankenmuth, Mich
"On the 8th day," Paul Harvey begins, "God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a caretaker.'" With that, my Super Bowl party fell silent. Did yours?
Dependent on worker availability, region and farm size, foreign labor has become vital to accomplishing daily operations on some dairy operations. Earlier this week, a bipartisan group of eight senators...
