Click a link below to see updates on cattle from a specific issue of Progressive Dairy.
2021
Issue 2, 2021: January 19, 2021 Issue 1, 2021: January 1, 2021
2020 Issue 20, 2020: December 12, ...
A mantra on the office door of our production manager has stuck with me since he posted it a few years ago. It reads: “You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” I think those nine words resonate ...
Why did Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) invest in social media and communication training for America’s dairy farmers when there are other pressing needs?
The simple answer is: to build consumer confidence. ...
Our habits are important in establishing how we behave and how others perceive us. I worked with a supervisor who was habitually discrediting employees with negative body language and derogatory comments. ...
California has regulated the marketing of milk produced within its borders since 1935, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled portions of a federal law covering milk marketing areas was nconstitutional. Now, ...
In my role, I have the opportunity to work with a wide assortment of dairy producers, utilizing varying degrees of technology on their operations.
Whether herds use the most technologically advanced ...
Today, many dairy operations find they need the flexibility of exchange-traded options, which allow you to not only protect attractive margins, but also capture future incremental improvements.
If ...
It’s not too late to manage your risk for 2017. While the deadline to participate in the Margin Protection Program (MPP) has passed, producers still have the opportunity to plan and implement a risk management ...
Ask a dairyman what keeps him or her up at night, and chances are it will be one of these issues:
How will I afford to keep renting land at sky-high rates?
Who is going to milk my cows?
These ...
Owning one of only two commercial dairies in the state of Hawaii, Steve Whitesides could be considered the “big kahuna” of Hawaii’s dairy industry.
However, the Idaho dairyman doesn’t spend his frequent ...
Right after college, the Beer brothers, Jeff and Regg, did not come back home to take over the family dairy in Milford, Indiana. However, as their father continued to expand the herd and operation, each ...
When we started down the milking robot road five years ago, there were plenty of people who considered this the end of our four-generation run at dairy farming. But instead of failure, we have emerged ...
Some things don’t change. Yogurt starts with milk, and that requires dairy farmers, cows and feed.
However, creating a non-GMO dairy supply chain requires changing some long-held business arrangements. ...
Meet Country Dairy, located near New Era, Michigan.
While much of the attention on a non-GMO dairy supply chain has been on the East and West coasts and in small niche markets, Country Dairy is trying ...
Clover Stornetta Farms is a third-generation family-owned-and-operated dairy processor and co-op in Sonoma County, California. In 2016, the brand announced it would begin transitioning all its 28 member ...
According to the USDA, the national corn crop in 2016 was in the neighborhood of 15.2 billion bushels; prices are hovering somewhere around $3.50 per bushel, which is much less than those prices we saw ...
Animal protein (animal byproduct meals) sources have been used in dairy cattle feeding programs for years. Products such as blood meal, fish meal, meat and bone have long been known for their ability to ...
Bill asked if adding amino acids to dry cow rations would be a good idea. His question was interesting, as several factors and new research reports indicate responses to added rumen-protected amino acids ...
The goal of ensiling a forage crop is to conserve as much as possible of the nutrient and dry matter (DM) content in the crop at the time of harvest.
The ensiling process is quite simple: Chopped forage ...
Nutritionists are moving beyond evaluating feed sources by crude protein or the quantity of protein. Protein is being evaluated based upon the quality of the protein. The amount and quality of protein ...
“Gas and brakes.” Have you ever imagined, as you are feeding forage to your dairy cattle, that you are pressing a “gas pedal” or a “brake pedal”? Kurt Cotanch, “the lab guy” at the Miner Institute in Chazy, ...
For dairy nutritionists and dairy managers, it’s frustrating to learn that the ration delivered to cows is not always the ration that was formulated. A diet can’t do its job when it’s not correctly mixed, ...
Rumen-protected histidine is more of an attractive concept today than a commercial product. Yet experimental prototypes are showing potential. As these prototypes advance, factors related to their use ...
“Tis the season” – or rather, a month or so after the season – of holiday feasts, mounds of whipped potatoes, mouth-watering pastries.
Of course, everyone in my house carefully monitored their caloric ...
Dairy cows and athletes have more in common than one might expect. Legendary National Football League coach Vince Lombardi said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we catch excellence.” ...
When cows just aren’t performing the way they need to be, the ration often takes the blame. Your nutritionist may need to make some adjustments, but before they do, it might be a good idea to take a look ...
The canola plant was developed in the 1970s to capture the beneficial properties of rapeseed oil and meal – but also to remove the anti-nutritional factors that limited the use of rapeseed oil and meal ...
We ensure that our cows receive a well-formulated, palatable ration – but how often do we think about the feeding environment and whether the dining experience enhances or hinders feed intake and production ...
Dairy profitability demands optimizing resources every day. For Sean Jones, that goes double. Sometimes triple.
Jones is the third generation involved in Lester C. Jones and Sons Inc., a multi-family ...
The 2016 crop-growing season has resulted in some unique challenges when feeding lactating and growing dairy cattle.
While much has been written in popular magazines about the 2016 corn grain crop ...
Many dairy farmers across the U.S. continue to look to their pastures as a source of nutrition for their milking herds.
Yet because grasses and legumes have their own biological life cycle, the nutrition ...
In late October and early November 2016, I led a group from the American Forage and Grassland Council on a tour of New Zealand. The goal for our trip was to foster more of a connection with our colleagues ...
Producing milk to fit the demands of today’s consumers should be a central focus of the nutritionist, producer and milk processor alike. Advances in milk processing, such as ultrafiltration, have allowed ...
It takes millions to get into farming. You either have to win the lottery or you depend on the hefty support of your family, which is sometimes like winning the lottery. Sure, there are stories of guys ...
For many in our world today, morals and family values have become a giant abstract painting where the paint is haphazardly slapped on the canvas without planning or purpose. Sexual intimacy is the guiding ...
Forage quality doesn’t increase after harvest, so what methods will ensure haylage yields are of optimum use to animals?
Experts have spent years researching what steps affect forage nutrition, and ...
While I have lived and farmed in New Mexico all my life, my family originally dairy farmed in California. In the 1980s and early 1990s, there was a “great migration” of dairies from California to New Mexico, ...
That special day is coming up soon again. That special day to tell your sweetheart you love them and they are very special. That day, of course, is Valentine’s Day.
In our fast-paced world today, it ...
Of all the things a place can be known for – famous bands, art museums, sports teams – the small town of Geel, Belgium, is world-renowned for its mentally impaired residents. In the center of the village ...
Personally, I think the greatest invention of all time is the outhouse. Before that it was just corncobs and chaos.
“Necessity is the mother of invention.” I’m not sure who originally made this statement, ...
More than 100 dairy producers and allied industry representatives from 15 states toured SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo in January. The group was part of Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin’s annual ...
Bringing flavored milk back to Los Angeles schools is not only boosting student milk consumption, but also helping address a school district food service budget deficit, according to LA School Report, ...
Along with the hope milk prices and income margins will increase in 2017, dairy farmers will likely encounter something else they haven’t seen in a while – rising interest rates.
After raising the ...
Have you ever wondered if those additives you put in the feed at such low inclusion rates actually make it to each cow?
According to a recent Dairyhack survey, one-third of all nutritionists from participating ...
Dramatic and fundamental changes over the past two years threaten California’s dairy industry and the dairy cooperative structure, according to Eric Erba, senior vice president and chief strategy officer ...
Created on 20 December 2016
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