Nov. 22 2023
Dairy animals need plenty of clean water as part of their balanced ration
May 29 2023
In a unanimous Supreme Court ruling, the justices on the highest court in the land agreed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overstepped its authority in threatening penalties of $40,000 per...
March 23 2023
When feeding dairy cows, a buffer helps maintain a balanced rumen pH by limiting the effects of excess acid. Outside of the cow, buffers in a farm’s fields serve a similar purpose for the water features...
July 6 2022
Cows are remarkable creatures, but it is up to us to unlock their potential by providing basic elements including water and enough access to it
Sept. 2 2021
An evening vet call came in that a high value bull calf was down. I wasn’t far away from the calf grower, so I soon pulled in to find Becky running subcutaneous (SQ) lactated ringers (LRS)
Aug. 16 2021
For the first time in history, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation plans to force mandatory cuts in water usage originating from the mighty Colorado River
June 10 2021
To teach our calves to drink from the water trough, we take one ball completely out so they can easily access water on one side and learn how to operate the ball in the other
Aug. 3 2020
Water trough capacity can make or break how cows deal with the heat of summer, not only for milk production but also to maintain body functions
March 16 2020
The sustainability conversation around agriculture, particularly animal agriculture, has become increasingly front of mind for a growing number of people
June 15 2017
Sometimes I think water is not valued enough for dairy cattle because it seems to be “free” or costs little compared to other feedstuffs. And it all begins with calves
April 24 2017
April showers bring May flowers. Along with them have come planting delays and other farm level concerns. One benefit that some may not think of is the opportunity to analyze where rain runoff flows
Jan. 18 2017
The Golden State is known worldwide as a top producer of hundreds of crops and commodities. Due to the rich, abundant soil and ideal, long growing season, California farmers and ranchers have benefited
Feb. 8 2016
"While scarcity may be the most pressing water issue, water quality is a close second," said Mike McCloskey, owner of Fair Oaks Dairy and chairman of the Sustainability Initiative for the Innovation Center...
Dec. 21 2015
When is field runoff risk the highest, particularly in more northern climates? "March is the month," says Amber Radatz, co-director of the University of Wisconsin Discovery Farms. She explained that March...
Nov. 17 2015
When we throw away food, we are tossing more than just nutrients into the trash. No doubt, water is a valuable resource. We use it every single day in a multitude of ways. When water supplies get tight,...
Oct. 28 2015
Now is the time to conduct a postmortem on your heat stress mitigation plan and evaluate potential modifications. With full bunkers and only a few remaining harvest tasks to check off the list, the warmth...
Aug. 10 2015
Hopes of drought relief are soaring in California these days, due to growing indications that wet El Niño conditions are coming to the West Coast this winter. Four years of low precipitation have...
July 20 2015
by Amanda Smith, Associate Editor Water. To thrive, agriculture needs water. And it's the ingredient that California, one of our nation's most agriculturally productive states, is most severely lacking....
June 29 2015
In New Zealand, nobody owns water. You do not have rights over any water; all waterways that are of any significance are public property except that owned by the Maori (natives). All waterways in New Zealand...
June 26 2015
California irrigation districts sue the state water board after it demanded they stop using pre-1914 water rights. As California's drought woes worsen and tempers keep climbing, you just knew it would...