The FSIS Residue Violation Information System List identifies all producers that have marketed food animals which have tested positive for antibiotic residues at slaughter.
The list is updated weekly, ...
Click here to download a pdf of an update from Cooperatives Working Together. This Issue 3 (February 8, 2011) update provides information about continued export assistance in 2011.
Click here to download a pdf of an update from Dairy Management, Inc. This update provides information about how the dairy checkoff unified to drive 2010 sales.
By now you’ve probably heard of or read the New York Times article revealing the FDA’s plan to allegedly test milk on farms that have previously had antibiotic residues in slaughter cows. In this issue, ...
As the 111th Congress came to an end, the Senate held a vote on the DREAM Act, an immigration reform proposal focused on children of illegal immigrants. Commentators and some Republicans described the ...
Do you tend to view the word “competition” as something negative? Maybe you truly dislike someone you see as your competition because of something that was said or done in the past. But in most cases, ...
Early this year the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy released its first-ever Sustainability Progress Report. Progressive Dairyman interviewed Erin Fitzgerald (pictured below left), the center’s vice president ...
As a new Congress is assembled, dairy coalitions are busy outlining their reform plans for 2011. Here is what some of the key players are working on:
Foundation for the Future
NMPF is working to put ...
In these tough economic times when consumers and businesses are spending less, farmers should think carefully about how much money they want to borrow and how they would use it in their businesses, a ...
When talking about employer/employee relations, the topic of interaction frequently comes up.
These discussions are usually centered on people; they don’t normally consider the most valuable employees ...
Improved antibiotic testing methodology, which utilizes liquid chromatography, now allows milk to be screened for more than 26 different antibiotics and other residues.
Although use of this new technology ...
Beginning hurdlers are often afraid of the hurdle. When they approach it, they slow down, then jump over it awkwardly. Sometimes they hit the hurdle, fall and do not wish to attempt another one.
The ...
Tax law changes have been numerous in 2010, so it seems appropriate that the year closed out with one more. On December 17, 2010,
President Obama signed into law the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance ...
This past year has certainly been one many dairy producers would just as easily like to forget. After a brutal year in 2009, profit margins remained negative through most of last year with depressed milk ...
Most family businesses – farms, local agribusinesses, restaurants, etc. – are started by an individual owner. As they grow, the businesses (farms) often transition to multiple owners. The new owners ...
You are in the business of dairying to make money, not to lose it. We know it doesn’t always happen that way. As you know, milk and feed prices are volatile at best these days, and it takes more and ...
Much has happened over the last three years in both the dairy industry and the financial world – changes that dairy producers will need to navigate with care.
During this time, we have seen milk prices ...
You might want to buckle your seat belt. The folks who are the customers of agriculture and who pay the freight for maintaining farm programs have spoken. And what they say may not necessarily be sweet ...
Q. What is the most difficult problem you deal with on your dairy? How do you handle it?
Mark Diederichs Lake Breeze Dairy, LLC Malone, Wisconsin To keep our employees motivated and finding something ...
At this time of the year, I wish I could bring you some good news. I am afraid, however, that what has been a modest recovery for our dairy farms starting in late spring is about to end. Most dairy farms, ...
With a low economy affecting interest rates and farm values, now is a good time to take care of planning the future of your business. Dan Rupar of Ruder Ware LLSC out of Wausau, Wisconsin, specializes ...
Respiratory disease is responsible for nearly half of all weaned heifer deaths on U.S. dairy farms.
New benchmarks for pneumonia treatment and mortality rates take aggressive aim at this troubling statistic ...
A heifer is your future. Many farmers believe this to be true and have been committed to raising every heifer for their operation.
A lot of cash has been allocated to improve calf management, age at ...
Use of some supplemental amino acids is now becoming available for all species worldwide.
In the past 20 to 30 years, adaptation of supplemental amino acid(s) in the non-ruminant diet has undergone sequential ...
It is no secret that feed and labor are the two highest expenses on a dairy operation, and don’t forget fuel prices that are expected to climb through 2011. Jones Equipment Company LLC in Massey, Maryland, ...
Preserving silage quality is more important than ever with rising commodity costs.
Feedout of last year’s crop is the best time to evaluate how your silage quality and bunker/pile storage are performing, ...
Until recently there has not been a significant push to supplement B vitamins in dairy cow diets since they are known to be synthesized in large amounts in a cow’s rumen.
It has been recognized for many ...
Using ration modeling programs that evaluate multiple carbohydrate fractions and their digestibility enables us to increase income over feed cost (IOFC). Corn prices are over $6 per bu and predicted to ...
It is every dairyman’s desire to feed high-quality corn silage and/or haylage to ensure excellent animal health and production and keep feed costs in line. However, maintaining the silage in good condition ...
If you answered “yes,” you should feel good about being proactive about this condition, knowing you can do something about it.
If you answered “no” because you have actually tested for ketosis, you, ...
Anyone involved in the dairy industry realizes these are difficult times. Nevertheless, there are strategies that can help improve profitability even during these hard times.
One such strategy is to balance ...
I have had the advantage of working as a practicing veterinarian in the Midwest and as a nutritionist in California, Utah, Idaho and Texas. When comparing the managerial and nutritional styles of these ...
“Milk Class III futures prices are forecast to decline over 12 percent in the next 3 to 6 months while corn prices hover around $5.85, pointing to another tough year.” The bleak news seems like a reoccurring ...
Ration formulation decisions are not taken lightly. But when it comes to ration modifications, two questions steal the show: “What will this cost me?” and “What financial return can I expect?”
The answers ...
The use of commodity feeds, such as corn gluten feed or soybean hulls, in dairy rations is not a new concept to the dairy industry. Commodity feeds have been used by feed companies and larger dairies for ...
Age: 57
Location: Bentonville, Arkansas
My dairy’s history: (# of generations, family members, etc.) I’m a third-generation dairy producer. In April 1972, I assumed major dairy operations after my ...
“It’s not my fault! I didn’t do it! I can’t do it! It’s too hard! The devil made me do it! I saw it on TV. I couldn’t help myself. It’s an addiction.” The excuses never end. It is easy to look outside ...
This is the concluding segment on electrical systems. In the future, however, I will be discussing specific areas of electrical systems.
The battery, starter and alternator are the three electrical ...
An interviewer asked me how one can make a living in the cow business. Actually he said, “As we’re heading into the next couple of years with declining cattle numbers and steady prices, how do you think ...
Starting in 2011, the somatic cell count (SCC) in bulk tank milk (BTM) must be less than 400,000 cells per ml for milk or milk products exported to the European Union (EU). Most milk in California is marketed ...
Last summer, the milking herd at MSU’s Kellogg Biological Station Pasture Dairy Research and Education Center (PDREC) moved into a new freestall barn, equipped with two robotic milkers.
We collected data ...
Forages are the foundation for building diets for the dairy herd. The quality of these forages greatly impacts profitability and performance, especially of the milking herd.
Because of limited land base, ...
Shipping day should be more than “we got them on the truck, and they’re gone.” Forward thinking and improved management practices can reduce challenges on this important payday by keeping stress and ...
“If some is good, then more is better” has been the accepted feeding practice for vitamin E in dairy cows, especially during the dry and early lactation periods. Only positive or “no effect” studies of ...
Many producers have abandoned feeding multiple totally mixed rations (TMRs) to milking cows after they leave the fresh group (or after calving), despite great differences in nutrient requirements and animal ...
Manure nutrients, a valuable commodity in the past, are becoming an unwanted pollutant. Manure is a natural “byproduct” of milk and meat production from farm animals.
In human history, this “byproduct” ...
My hat is off to parents who have a job in town but insist on raising their kids in a “rural lifestyle.” Fifty or so thousand young people were at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis last year. ...
Reporting to you from Islamabad, Pakistan.
In this, my second report from Pakistan, I report of a day in the field. I have four visits done today, all within Punjab province and near the capital city ...
The primary objective of a job description is to help employees and supervisors reach a mutual understanding about important details of a job in order to avoid future problems.
This article discusses ...
Created on 02 February 2011
advertisement
Serving Dairies Nationwide
Progressive Dairy regularly delivers relevant industry news, cow health and dairy management info to you at no cost.