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Current Progressive Dairy digital edition

1. Market Watch: Cattle: (Organizations); Click a link below to see updates on Cattle from a specific issue of Progressive Dairyman. 2019 Issue 20, 2019: December 12, 2019 Issue 19, 2019: November 29, 2019 Issue 18, 2019: November 7, ...; Created on 16 October 2019
2. Dairy’s elite athletes: (From the Editor); If you’re reading this, you know something I don’t: who won Super Bowl 53. As I write this editorial, the divisional round of the NFL playoffs is complete. As I thought about the culmination of football ...; Created on 07 February 2019
3. Export Assistance Watch: Fourth quarter sales push CWT’s 2018 exports above 131 million pounds: (Industry News); Click here or on the image above to view it at full size in a new window.; Created on 07 February 2019
4. Checkoff Watch: Checkoff-led e-commerce pilot test shows what’s possible for dairy: (Organizations); Our world has more conveniences than ever. Technology has afforded us the luxury that practically any item we desire – including our food – is a click away. Need groceries or ready-made meals delivered ...; Created on 07 February 2019
5. What dairy pros need to know about the USMCA: (Management); The wait is (kind of) over. Last fall, trade authorities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada agreed to a trilateral free trade agreement (USMCA) that replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). ...; Created on 07 February 2019
6. Calculating cost of production: Identify opportunities: (Management); Cost of production (COP) is one of the most important metrics to evaluate a dairy operation’s financial status. However, when discussing COP, people typically refer to cash flow and include purchased feed, ...; Created on 07 February 2019
7. What can be done to increase revenue and cash flow?: (Management); In 2014, Class III producer milk prices were above $20 per hundredweight (cwt). Milk protein was worth more than butterfat, and amino acid balancing was becoming the accepted technology for increasing ...; Created on 07 February 2019
8. Consumer trends toward snacking and convenience could benefit dairy consumption: (Management); Meeting changing consumer demands for nutritious snacking and convenience can boost dairy product consumption, according to panelists featured during the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) ...; Created on 07 February 2019
9. Don’t be a fleeing heir or end up in shirtsleeves: (Management); Recently I’ve talked about the tension that comes with great wealth transfer. Here is more information on that subject. Financial planner Anthony Williams describes a study by Investment News suggesting ...; Created on 07 February 2019
10. Things to keep in mind opening 2018 silos: (Feed & Nutrition); The growing season from East to West coasts the past year has been somewhat like stock and futures markets. Several months of (early season) conditions and expectations changed markedly in a matter of ...; Created on 07 February 2019
11. Automated milking systems: Precision feeding opportunity, or are we imprecisely feeding?: (Feed & Nutrition); The number of farms with automated milking systems has rapidly increased in North America over the past 15 years. Despite the increase in adoption, there have been very few controlled studies that have ...; Created on 07 February 2019
12. Potential financial impacts of shortages of in-feed antibiotics on dairy operations: (Feed & Nutrition); Some of the major concerns in the dairy industry regarding the implementation of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) were increased costs due to management changes and unavailability of in-feed antibiotic ...; Created on 07 February 2019
13. The difference among full-, partial- and no-DCAD diets: (Feed & Nutrition); For many years, the expectations for high milk production along with excellent herd health and reproductive performance were considered at odds with each other. It was believed you should not and could ...; Created on 06 February 2019
14. Feeding to limit lameness: (Feed & Nutrition); Lameness continues to increase on dairy farms as more tools are available to monitor and evaluate, consumer groups raise lameness as an animal welfare issue, and cost of treatment can be $498. Lameness ...; Created on 06 February 2019
15. Organic trace mineral nutrition: Success across all stages of life: (Feed & Nutrition); The trace mineral requirements of dairy animals is a topic that continues to receive a great deal of attention, and rightfully so. Although trace minerals comprise less than 0.01 percent of the total mass ...; Created on 06 February 2019
16. Environmental and economic benefits of nitrogen efficiency: (Feed & Nutrition); The idea of on-farm nutrient management is definitely not new, nor is increasing nutrient efficiency for economic benefit. For years, we’ve all heard about how whole-farm nutrient balance is a key feature ...; Created on 06 February 2019
17. Research review: Amino acid balancing: (Feed & Nutrition); For the past 20 years or more, emphasis has been placed on balancing diets for amino acids (AA) either by feeding rumen-protected amino acids (RPAA), especially methionine (Met) and lysine (Lys), or by ...; Created on 06 February 2019
18. Harvest management for triticale forages: (Feed & Nutrition); Triticale has become very popular with dairy producers managing cropping systems throughout much of the U.S. In most cropping systems, triticale functions as a winter-annual forage that includes fall establishment ...; Created on 06 February 2019
19. Forage challenges for dairy farms in the Southeast: (Feed & Nutrition); The Southeast U.S. has a tremendous potential to grow forage crops. Its mild winters and the possibility to grow forages 365 days of the year offer numerous possibilities. Forages are the basis of ...; Created on 06 February 2019
20. BMR pearl millet silage for lactating dairy cows: (Feed & Nutrition); Crop rotation is an important part of a resilient and sustainable farming system because it breaks pest cycles, spreads the risk of crop failure and improves nutrient utilization, among other benefits. ...; Created on 06 February 2019
21. Charting your future: Options for updating your milking system: (Barns & Equipment); “Management makes milk” is a quote that resonates today more than ever. Discovering your operational strengths will allow you to chart the best course for your future. Milk at $14 per hundredweight ...; Created on 05 February 2019
22. Monitoring your milking center with electronic records: (Barns & Equipment); It still amazes us when we get onto a dairy that has all their milking data at the push of a button but is not using any of it. Even worse, they may not even be going into the parlor because they think ...; Created on 05 February 2019
23. Milk filters: The unsung hero of successful milking outcomes: (Barns & Equipment); No one seems to think much these days about the role the milk filter plays in producing high-quality milk. It’s probably fair to say most farmers don’t think about it at all. In fact, in a recent article, ...; Created on 05 February 2019
24. Just dropping by ... The history gift: (Yevet Tenney); Writing a life history is like gathering a bouquet of flowers to give to a friend. It would be ludicrous to cut every flower in the garden. Bouquets are beautiful because they are rare and fashioned with ...; Created on 05 February 2019
25. Equipment Hub: Equipment that saves: (Barns & Equipment); We all know how expensive equipment is today. I often think back to the economic boom that was the 1970s in the dairy industry. One of my professors at Virginia Tech, the late William Etgen, called the ...; Created on 05 February 2019
26. Focus on you: Managing stress on the farm and in the office: (Management); Frustration is a stressor each of us can feel from time to time, especially for those in the dairy industry. From personal and family struggles to rhetoric in our community and prices in the marketplace, ...; Created on 05 February 2019
27. HERd Management: Keep calm and make a plan: (Guest Blog); I have to have a plan. I am constantly asking my husband, “What is the plan?” It drives him absolutely insane. It’s just how I am. I need to know what the day will look like, be able to glance at the week ...; Created on 05 February 2019
28. The Milk House: The anatomy of hate: (Ryan Dennis); It’s the worst part of being a foreigner in Ireland: immigration registration. The office opens at 7:30 a.m. Because there are only two officials who work the Galway office, to be seen that day – most ...; Created on 05 February 2019
29. The Manure Spreader: Valentine treats: (Tim Moffett); Well, Valentine’s Day is next week. I remember in grade school getting those heart-shaped little candies with phrases on them like “be mine,” “lose weight” or “please stop talking to me.” No matter ...; Created on 05 February 2019
30. Robotic batch milking: A new concept combining conventional barn design and automated milking: (Barns & Equipment); With more than 30 years of experience in farm planning and design to the complete delivery of turn-key projects, using state-of-the-art technology, we are now presenting our new concept of fully automated ...; Created on 05 February 2019
31. Robots bring beneficial cost savings to Majestic Crossing Dairy: (Barns & Equipment); Traditionally, success for automated milking has been measured by increased milk and reduced labor. One full year after starting up robots, Majestic Crossing Dairy is finding additional value in this investment ...; Created on 05 February 2019
32. It’s time to stress test for interest rate risk: (Management); Economic conditions for dairy producers have been challenging over the last few years, mostly due to pricing pressures putting the squeeze on profit margins. Interest rates, however, were not a major factor, ...; Created on 28 December 2018
33. What to expect from 2018 silage and how to feed it: (Feed & Nutrition); This 2018 forage season was again a challenging one for producers across North America. In some areas, there were weeks of heavy precipitation, leading to saturated soils and even flooding. Other parts ...; Created on 27 November 2018
34. We’re the missing link: Why I’m helping to market my own product: (Guest Blog); Tell your story. Get on social media. Join the bandwagon that is now everyday life for the consumer. Odds are you have come across an article or person that has encouraged you to either tell your personal ...; Created on 26 November 2018
35. 3 reasons to rethink sulfate trace minerals in 2019: (Feed & Nutrition); Findings from studies conducted by leading research universities and pioneers in trace mineral nutrition suggest sulfate trace minerals may actually cause more harm than good when it comes to animal performance ...; Created on 26 October 2018
36. Top 10 reasons why molasses-based sugar supplements are different from corn starch: (Feed & Nutrition); Reason 1: Cows are naturally adapted to high-sugar diets. High-starch diets (greater than 28 percent) or high starch fermentability may depress ruminal fiber digestion, but high-sugar diets (6.5 to 8.5 ...; Created on 24 July 2018