March 2 2015
Dairies' first step in settling Washington manure case could ultimately have a huge effect on farmers nationwide. A few answers - and one huge question - have already emerged in the wake of the landmark...
Jan. 19 2015
In a 5-to-1 decision (with one additional justice not participating in the case), the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that when manure enters a groundwater well, it can be considered a pollutant. In making...
Dec. 9 2014
Global warming or not, the world's climate is changing. In the United States, greater variability in precipitation patterns, more pronounced differences in weather between regions, and rising average temperatures...
Oct. 27 2014
A group of six Wisconsin-based environmental groups filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to investigate potential groundwater contamination in Kewaunee County, Wis
Sept. 2 2014
Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson (pictured) is not a big fan of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Nor is he reluctant to say so, as seen at the Western Land Symposium in Boise last week
Jan. 27 2014
Field runoff volumes have a near equal distribution under frozen and nonfrozen ground conditions, said Kevan Klingberg with University of Wisconsin Discovery Farms at the Midwest Forage Association annual...
Jan. 10 2014
Lawsuits are underway against four Yakima, Wash., dairy families that, if successful, will set an environmental precedent that potentially threatens the existence of every farm - dairy or otherwise - in...
Dec. 30 2013
Livestock production contributes 40 percent to the world's agricultural gross domestic product, provides income for more than 1.3 billion people and represents 17 percent of global caloric intake per person...
Dec. 16 2013
The more a cow produces, the lower its environmental footprint will be. Climate change has always occurred. Yet, the heating trend over the last decade has been outside the normal range. Humans and livestock...
Nov. 15 2013
Because it has been so widely quoted, we have become numb to what was once a sobering statistic: we will need to feed 9 billion people by 2050. For many, this is not a reality we can easily wrap our heads...
Nov. 11 2013
Despite close to average temperatures across the Badger State in early November, wet conditions have brought harvest wrap-up to a standstill. While the entire state received some precipitation, the eastern...
Oct. 25 2013
Agriculture has made great strides in reducing nutrient movement from our farm fields even though the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relentlessly aims for tighter standards. From our vantage point,...
Sept. 9 2013
It's a simple choice for dairies and other farms: take part in all environmental-related discussions or let others make decisions for you that you'll have to live with. What may turn out to be a crucial...
Sept. 3 2013
Small-herd farms in California's central valley could be wiped out by new environmental regulations targeting wastewater ponds that are expected to be adopted as early as this year by the Central Valley...
March 12 2013
This week, March 10 to 16, is recognized as National Groundwater Awareness week. Groundwater is one of our most valuable resources, needed by people, animals and crops every day
Feb. 11 2013
"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
Feb. 22 2012
We attended the Illinois Agricultural Communications Symposium last week, organized in honor of the University of Illinois Ag Communications' 50-year anniversary. The daylong event started off with a...
Nov. 21 2011
Hilmar Cheese recently was awarded a Certificate of Merit in the Corporate Communications category by the Central Valley (California) Public Relations Organization. The 50-foot-long exhibit at the plant's...
Aug. 31 2011
In North America, there are many native ruminants, that is, herbivore animals with a complex digestive system, a major compartment of which is the rumen. Some present-day examples are the bison (Bison...
Feb. 19 2011
Imagine a world where the manure check equals the milk check. No one is saying it is possible, but there is hope on the horizon for profiting from the waste end of the cow, and some are doing it already....