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Current Progressive Dairy digital edition

1. The power of an extra push: (From the Editor); Right before the end of the year, I made a visit to Kinnard Farms in Casco, Wisconsin, and met with director of dairy operations Shaun Hardtke to talk about one small change that made a significant difference ...; Created on 07 February 2020
2. Export Assistance Watch: CWT’s assisted Q4 sales raise 2019 exports to 1.3 billion pounds: (Industry News); The Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) export assistance program and CWT member cooperatives benefited all U.S. dairy farmers in 2019 by exporting 135 million pounds of cheese, butter and whole milk powder. ...; Created on 07 February 2020
3. Checkoff Watch: Checkoff growing opportunities for U.S. dairy through Asian Pizza Hut partnership: (Organizations); You can order pizza in Asia that has shrimp or crabmeat as a topping or one that has a ring of edible powdered charcoal around its edge. The Asian pizza experience is certainly a world away from ...; Created on 07 February 2020
4. Federal Milk Marketing Order BTSCC improved in 2018: (Industry News); Milk quality monitored in three of four Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs) improved in 2018, according to an update from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). APHIS: Determining ...; Created on 07 February 2020
5. An update on China, USMCA trade agreements: (Industry News); You’re busy milking cows, squeezing in a final extension meeting or two and wondering if your manure lagoon is big enough. With that in mind, Progressive Dairy looks at issues in the news impacting you ...; Created on 07 February 2020
6. National Dairy Financial Index indicates ‘optimism going forward’: (Management); Genske, Mulder & Co. has produced, for decades, what is referred to as cost studies for our dairy clients. These show the averages of our clients’ profit and loss statements from about 14 states, which ...; Created on 07 February 2020
7. Milk prices in the new year and decade: (Management); What a decade 2010-19 has been. We had the highest milk prices ever in 2014 followed by a very prolonged half-decade with persistently low milk prices. There were many reasons for those low milk prices ...; Created on 07 February 2020
8. 15 measures of dairy farm competitiveness: (Management); How do I compare to my competition? How do I know if I am ready to expand? These questions asked by Ohio’s dairy farmers sparked publication of the 15 Measures of Dairy Farm Competitiveness in 1997. Twenty-two ...; Created on 06 February 2020
9. 3 open minutes with Marin Bozic: (Management); Ag economist Marin Bozic of the University of Minnesota calls himself a “jack of all trades” when it comes to his work in the dairy industry. He does primary research in the area of dairy markets; teaches ...; Created on 06 February 2020
10. Why you need to be stepping away from your farm for a day: (Management); Numerous agriculture meetings and events are held this time of year, as it’s the “slow” time. Of course, it seems no time of the year is slow anymore, especially if you are a dairy owner wearing many hats, ...; Created on 06 February 2020
11. Embrace the conflict on your farm; don’t stop it: (Management); Sitting on my stool in front of the third farm audience of the week, I should not have been surprised to receive the same question for the third time by text: “Elaine, how we do we stop the conflict on ...; Created on 06 February 2020
12. How do you know when it may be time to change lenders?: (Management); Breaking up is hard to do but, as the risk manager for your farm, you should be prepared for the day when you and your lender may have to go your separate ways. Your relationship with your lender is ...; Created on 06 February 2020
13. The benefits of keeping the right financial and production information: (Management); Companies that treat their accounting software as a tool only for compiling taxes are missing out on the opportunity to produce valuable management reporting. Traditionally, many farms used their accounting ...; Created on 06 February 2020
14. Milk cooling: Past, present and future: (Barns & Equipment); On-farm milk cooling has come a long way in the past few decades. From the early days of spring water passing through a stack of 10-gallon milk cans, getting milk cold as quickly as possible once it leaves ...; Created on 06 February 2020
15. Making milk production more sustainable: (Barns & Equipment); DeLaval President and CEO Joakim Rosengren has been with the global company for nearly two decades. He recently sat down with Progressive Dairy to share his thoughts on the advancements in milking equipment ...; Created on 06 February 2020
16. What type of investment should dairy producers consider making to their milking systems this year?: (Barns & Equipment); For most dairies, profits found in 2020 will likely be used to pay back debt accrued in recent years. Financial advisers also suggest using profits to grow the business or make it more efficient. Since ...; Created on 06 February 2020
17. Curious corn crop of 2019 by the numbers: (Feed & Nutrition); Approaching Christmas in 2019, there were still fields yet to take off as high-moisture corn, snaplage or earlage – and even corn silage, if you can believe it. The 2019 corn crop seems like my preschool- ...; Created on 06 February 2020
18. Hourly feed pushups yield more milk, fewer problems at Kinnard Farms: (Feed & Nutrition); Hourly pushups to keep feed within the cows’ reach has helped Kinnard Farms grab onto milk production and herd health goals. Shaun Hardtke, director of dairy operations at the farm in Casco, Wisconsin, ...; Created on 06 February 2020
19. Feed inventory management: It’s not a game, but it can feel like one: (Feed & Nutrition); Planning and managing forage inventory on the dairy can sometimes feel like playing Tetris. Like Tetris, we see things begin to pile up or disappear faster than our feed center is prepared for, with consequences ...; Created on 06 February 2020
20. Looking back to plan ahead for 2019 corn silage: (Feed & Nutrition); Gallons of ink have been used and thousands of blog posts have featured information and voiced concerns about the quality of the 2019 crop. Large sections of the United States where dairy producers ...; Created on 06 February 2020
21. Tips to successfully feed 2019 corn silage: (Feed & Nutrition); Across North America, the 2019 corn silage crop was seriously compromised at all stages of growth and production. The challenges ranged from delayed planting, excess rain or drought during growth, ...; Created on 06 February 2020
22. Maximize your herd’s potential through nutrition and management while overcrowding: (Feed & Nutrition); As milk prices continue to squeeze the dairy industry, many producers utilize overcrowding to maximize efficiency of facilities and keep bulk tanks full. Previous work from Albert De Vries and colleagues ...; Created on 06 February 2020
23. Feeding transition cows in a robotic system: (Feed & Nutrition); The role of the transition cow in robotics is no different than in any other milking system. A good transition program minimizes calving difficulties and metabolic and infectious diseases. Any of these ...; Created on 06 February 2020
24. Feed efficiency and metabolic health: How might we improve them both in the transition dairy cow?: (Feed & Nutrition); The transition to lactation is a metabolically challenging time in the life cycle of a dairy cow. Nutrient requirements to support milk production exceed nutrient intake, and the cow is at increased risk ...; Created on 06 February 2020
25. All aspects of a negative DCAD diet must be consistent: (Feed & Nutrition); Often, when I visit a farm to troubleshoot an incident of poor transition cow performance, I hear the comment, “Things had been going so well until now. What might have changed with my anionic supplement?” ...; Created on 06 February 2020
26. Particle size matters for high-straw dry cow diets: (Feed & Nutrition); In the weeks leading up to calving and the early postpartum period, various behavioral, metabolic and physiological challenges are imposed on the dairy cow. One of the biggest stressors the cow faces ...; Created on 06 February 2020
27. Dietary fiber or ruminant fiber?: (Feed & Nutrition); Is fiber important in human nutrition? Ask anyone. Ask the internet. Ask your doctor. But then follow this up with a simple question: What exactly is it? Hmmm. Ruminant nutritionists – folks like me ...; Created on 06 February 2020
28. HERd Management: How a newfound hobby is helping me battle work-related stress and anxiety: (Guest Blog); If you follow along with any of my social media profiles, or you have read my past HERd management columns, you might know 2019 was a difficult year for me. I have been battling mild anxiety and depression ...; Created on 06 February 2020
29. Just dropping by ... A tribute to my mom: A woman of faith: (Yevet Tenney); Last October, my mother, Charlotte Ann Despain Crandell, passed away after a prolonged bout of dementia. I have been gathering her history and have found treasures upon treasures of love and faith from ...; Created on 06 February 2020
30. Equipment Hub: The Great Jacket Pocket Fire (and other welding issues): (Barns & Equipment); They say experience is the best teacher, but is it? How many of you would recognize a rattlesnake if you encountered one? If experience is the best teacher, the only way you would know to leave that rascal ...; Created on 06 February 2020
31. The Milk House: The taste of music: (Ryan Dennis); It’s difficult to get people’s attention in the modern era. According to research, the average individual sees over 5,000 advertisements per day. The end result is that we’re bombarded with marketing ...; Created on 06 February 2020
32. The Manure Spreader: Valentine’s Day gifts: (Tim Moffett); Well, Tim here with your yearly reminder that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. If we’ve learned anything from the holidays, it’s that credit cards and yoga pants both have limits. That being ...; Created on 06 February 2020
33. The Tale of Two Cows: Both are profitable but only one survives: (Management); Two cows live on a theoretical farm. Both produce revenue. Both are recently fresh. One calved well, is in good body condition, breezed through the whole transition phase and is ready to breed – and looks ...; Created on 06 February 2020
34. Manure matters: What manure appearance can tell you about cow health and nutrition: (Feed & Nutrition); One thing they don’t necessarily tell you when you’re in school, studying to be a nutritionist, is that what comes out the back of the cow is almost as important as what goes in the front. Over my ...; Created on 06 February 2020
35. How the ‘Secrets of Ag’ project is providing solidarity: (Guest Blog); “Nothing haunts us like the things we don’t say.” — Mitch Albom. Everyone has secrets they don’t want to share out loud. Some are small secrets, but some are huge, life-altering secrets. A secret is a ...; Created on 07 January 2020
36. Addressing low forage inventory and feed quality challenges: (Feed & Nutrition); Successful implementation of feeding programs on the dairy hinges on accurate assessment and effective management of forages in the diet. As we wrap up a year notable for the extent of weather challenges ...; Created on 24 December 2019
37. Enterprise accounting: The key to heifer management: (Management); Dairy producers tend to focus on the production side of the business more than financial metrics. And when they do take a look at the financial picture, they tend to consider it in the aggregate. But there’s ...; Created on 20 December 2019
38. Hold the haylage – Hodorffs go heavy on the corn silage: (Feed & Nutrition); Each day, the cows at Second-Look Holsteins are served up a hefty helping of corn silage, and they have yet to miss the haylage that used to be a part of their meal. Over the past three years, brothers ...; Created on 18 November 2019
39. 5 things I can’t do without: Erin Mosley: (Feed & Nutrition); Erin Mosley is owner of Mosley Dairy Consulting LLC and lives in Canal Winchester, Ohio. She provides independent dairy nutrition consultation focusing on the utilization of currently available software ...; Created on 22 August 2019