Shrink is hard to define, but committing to best management practices during harvest, ensiling and feedout can reduce its impact. Over the past few years, sustainability has earned its status as a dairy...
Automated calf feeding systems offer huge benefits but can also challenge management systems. Offering quicker gains, healthier calves and greater labor efficiencies, automated calf feeders have revolutionized...
Additional milk per day is just the start. The signs of heat stress in dry cows are less obvious when there is no production to monitor. In the March Hoard's Dairyman webinar, Geoff Dahl, University of...
While forage procurement and feeding play a huge role in the success of high-producing herds, they aren't the only factors. Reproduction and milk quality are critical elements, too. Each winter, 24 of...
Research shows that healthy and unhealthy eaters alike select foods on taste over nutritional value. An apple is healthier, but why do we reach for the doughnut instead? Most likely because we know it...
There were some surprises in who signed up for the Dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP-Dairy), according to figures announced recently by USDA. The biggest surprise is who didn't sign up: almost half...
A classic game, Jenga tests players' ability to strategically remove blocks from a sturdy tower. One by one, blocks are pulled until the stack comes crashing down. The individual with the steadiest hand...
Running a business has a lot to do with building and maintaining relationships, and for a farm, an extremely important relationship is the one with their lender. The foundation of that relationship is...
You may have heard this saying previously and wondered what it means or how it would apply to your dairy or everyday life. It's one I try to live by daily in all things, big and small, I sum it up with...
Growing prospect of another recession threatens exports and farm milk prices. Despite big dips in the stock market this week, the U.S. economy remains in fabulous shape. Except that's in comparison to...
"One of the most important events on a dairy is calving," said Mark Thomas, D.V.M., a New York veterinarian and consultant with Dairy Health and Management Services, LLC
Research sheds additional light on the specific effects of mastitis on reproductive efficiencies. The dairy cow's internal balance can often be a fragile thing, and it is never more apparent than when...
Producer seminars are an early part of a five-year, $3 million grant from USDA. by Dennis Halladay, Hoard's Dairyman Western Editor The best description of genomics I have ever heard came this week from...
Simply guessing as to the cause is part of the problem. Death loss is a challenge to every producer. Minimizing early removals from the herd should be the goal, but it starts with an understanding of the...
"In the best-case scenario, we'll lose only 2 to 3 percent of our harvested forage tons to fermentation shrink," noted John Goeser, Rock River Laboratory, at the Penn State Dairy Nutrition Conference
An estimated 6.5 million fulltime employees in California – including those who work on dairies – will begin earning three days per year of paid sick time off from their employers under the...
Not long ago, calf care was a bit of an afterthought, and many young animals received a standard serving of milk that was adequate for survival and some growth
Decades ago, cows gave far less milk and reproduction came easy. Today's cows produce high volumes of milk, but are still expected to calve back consistently. There was a downward trend for fertility until...
Organic dairy product consumption continues to grow, but so does the price of organic cattle feed, cutting into margins for dairy producers. Thus, a new study has revealed that a fair and consistent milk...
