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Historic is the best adjective to describe this issue. It’s been 20 years since Progressive Dairyman first landed in a dairy producer’s mailbox.
In this issue, we take a look back at how Progressive Dairyman publisher Leon Leavitt got the magazine st...
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Cooperatives Working Together accepts 343 herd retirement bids
The next herd retirement effort conducted by Cooperatives Working Together will remove more than 1 billion pounds of milk, or 0.6 percent of the nation’s dairy supply, in an effort to help ...
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Editor’s note: The following are available market reports and futures data as of March 16, 2007.
Butter
The CME butter price continues to ease lower to settle at $1.3000. Churning activity is mixed across the country depending on cream availability, a...
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Today’s dairy producers have access to a lot of new and innovative technology. These technologies are positioned to improve health, cow comfort, reproduction, milk yield, milk components and more. If a producer adopted every new technology that was avai...
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Good time management is a major component of business success. It affects productivity and employee morale. Good time management requires knowing useful time management skills and making them a habit. Managers and employees can benefit in business and per...
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With lower milk prices and higher feed costs, many dairy farmers are looking for ways to survive these tough economic times. We need to look at ways to improve net income that farmers can control and change.
Farmers can control how they use their monetar...
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Starting with this column and continuing each month, this space will include benchmarking data on a number of key performance indicators (KPI) for U.S. dairy producers.
The data has been compiled from 175 herds and about 182,500 cows located across the U...
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Do you ever wonder why some people seem to always be successful and others never quite make it? Sure, the difference can be written off to bad luck, which may be a factor. You may also think that it is due to people’s management skills. Granted, managem...
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The following article is the third in a series of articles summarizing the “Supervisory Skills for Managers” DVD collection produced by Jim Henion. The series provides helpful management hints for owners and managers working with employees on dairy op...
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Dairy producer Kay Carter recently signed an affidavit saying his farm wouldn’t supplement its 180 cows’ milk production by using rBST. Carter of Preston, Idaho, says the processor accepting milk shipped from his farm made the request for “rBST-free...
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Have you ever considered what it takes to motivate cows to do their best work? It’s an odd question to ask, especially when directed at bovines. It puzzled me at first, until I simply pulled out a dictionary and looked up the definition of the word “m...
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Heat stress causes milk yield to drop sharply, primarily because of reduced feed intake. There are a number of steps to minimize the effects of heat stress, but remember there is no magic bullet. A combination of management practices are necessary to mode...
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Your cows don’t talk, but they can be communicating some very important messages. Are you listening? The way cows behave can tell us a lot about how the cattle are handled, how comfortable their facilities are and if management is causing or reducing st...
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We use the term “cow comfort” all the time, usually referring to bedding and freestalls or cooling cows in the summer. Researchers are beginning to realize cows need more than a comfortable environment to accomplish everything we expect of them. They ...
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Last month was the 20th anniversary issue of Progressive Dairyman. Publisher Leon Leavitt recently wrote the following commentary about how the magazine began and its growth during the last 20 years.
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Recently, a dairyman asked me if I knew the requirements for becoming organic. Naturally, I tried to ease his obvious insecurity with humor. I told him that he’d have to let his hair and beard grow out and start wearing tie-dye shirts with sandals. I al...
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Producers know the consequences when temperatures reach 90°F or higher – heat stress-induced morbidity and mortality. Calves cannot regulate internal temperature beyond their thermal neutral zone, which makes them much more sensitive to heat, especiall...
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Escalating feed costs have challenged many dairy producers in recent months, including Brian Mitchell’s clients. Mitchell, a nutritionist for more than 30 dairies located throughout Idaho with a combined 40,000 cows, empathizes with dairy producers who ...
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The price of corn has increased 45 percent from 2005 to 2006. Corn grain is fed as a major energy source in lactating rations. How can one maintain the proper energy levels to continue one’s current milk production?
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Distillers grains with solubles (DG) is a unique feedstuff providing protein, fat, highly digestible fiber and minerals, all of which can be utilized in dairy rations. Distillers grains with solubles are coproducts from the manufacture of ethanol. Althoug...
Re: Second annual Latinos in Agriculture forum deemed a success
Posted on Wednesday, 22 May 2013 by Agriculture in the Black Sea Region.This project is for and about agriculture in countries aroung Black Sea...
Re: Mastitis prevention and control: A prevention methodology
Posted on Wednesday, 22 May 2013 by Justo Calderon.Great article, nice explanation, easy and interesting to reading And...
Re: Documentary shows struggles of Maine co-op
Posted on Tuesday, 21 May 2013 by David Bright.One correction. MOOMilk is not a co-op. It's an L3C corporation, a...