The U.S. Dairy Export Council, primarily funded by dairy farmers through their dairy checkoff investment, helps enhance the global demand for U.S. dairy products and ingredients. These efforts work. In ...
Featured photographer
How did you get started in photography?
BAUER: I’ve had an interest in photography since I was 10 years old. It was a project I took throughout my 4-H career. I learned a lot ...
Tucked away in a pleasant little valley on the outskirts of Westminster, Maryland, a little old barn has found a big new purpose.
Tanya and C.J. Miller purchased what they saw as a property with unlimited ...
Computer vision technology tested on California dairy Published: Feb. 2, 2017 enewsletter and Feb. 25, 2017 print issue
Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley featured Maddox Dairy in Riverdale, California, ...
Years ago, the farmer-funded dairy promotion checkoff moved from a generic advertising approach to a strategy of working with powerful partners with like values who would invest with us and help advance ...
1. Describe your farm.
PETERS: My parents, Jeff and Janet Peters, brother (Cole) and I own and operate a dairy farm in northwestern Pennsylvania called Spruce Row Farm.
We milk 280 Jerseys, raise ...
The U.S. dairy herd has a head start on what is expected to be a growth year in 2017, based on the USDA’s semi-annual estimate of dairy cows and heifers. However, dairy replacement heifers numbers are ...
Note: This is the sixth article for Progressive Dairyman about dairy culture.
Since we first offered organizational culture inventory (OCI) assessments to dairy producers and their teams, data has been ...
Out the window of our Twin Falls, Idaho, office we have a privileged view of both Perrine Bridge/Snake River base jumpers, as well as the evolution of dairy market hedge plans. Some may consider a leap ...
You’ve formed a limited liability corporation (LLC) and taken the initial legal steps toward a dairy farm succession plan. Don’t just put that plan in a filing cabinet or safe.
Succession plans require ...
After raising the benchmark interest rate just once in seven years, the Federal Reserve increased the rate 0.25 percent in December 2016 and hinted three similar increases may be coming in 2017.
Progressive ...
Despite being in an economic downturn, opportunities for growth remain in agriculture.
“There are very few industries that have the growth potential this industry does.
It’s cyclical in nature, but ...
For John, the focus was never about just making money. What started as a desire for independence quickly became a quest for sustainability and long-term success. John readily admits, “Nothing great is ...
If you thought dairying has been volatile the last few years, shifts in fundamental economic drivers could make dairying a much more expensive endeavor in the years ahead.
The dairy industry has experienced ...
Chad Sime was ready to quit grazing. It was labor-intensive and stressful to him and his cows. He says there was no “natural flow” to it, and the inconvenience of moving cows was actually hampering his ...
For many years, the Fry family in Chestertown, Maryland, was able to straddle the line of conventional farmer and organic farmer. In 2000, the family began producing organic grain and forage because Horizon ...
What is the best way to go about choosing genetics for your grazing herd?
“No single ideal pasture-based cow exists,” says Ted Probert, regional dairy specialist with the University of Missouri Extension. ...
Sometimes a person can do everything by the book or owner’s manual – and it ends in failure. Such is what happened here last fall when I was chopping corn silage to fill my back silo. We like to have silage ...
I have argued with myself over the refugee and immigration issue. On the one hand, as Christians, we need to help our brothers and sisters in their time of crisis. That is what Christ would do – but on ...
One of the hardest-working parts of a compact track loader is its undercarriage. However, in order for the moving components to function properly, the undercarriage must be maintained and kept clean.
If ...
I have no doubt that, like every generation before us, we will judge the next generation to be spoiled or clueless. Nonetheless, whatever does become of them, I hope that the next generation holds us accountable ...
It’s that time of the year when people gather and listen to hear how things are going. As citizens, we listen to our governors and the president talk about how our states and country are doing. As farmers, ...
The month of March brings with it some monumental celebrations such as St. Patrick’s Day, which is celebrated by eating corned beef and cabbage, Skittles and lots of green beer. This is a special day for ...
Two years ago, Curtis Nolan was sure renovating the milking parlor was the next step for Kenyon Hill Farm, his family’s dairy in northeastern New York, which is operated by Nolan; his dad, Mike; and his ...
LEDs have come a long way in the past decade and have established themselves as mainstream lighting technology. Early LED lights could be unreliable and expensive, and some dairies were skeptical about ...
It is now common to find butyrate in commercial milk replacers and solid feeds for calves. However, the impact it has on the calf varies depending on the delivery method and the source of dietary butyrate ...
Raising healthy calves is crucial to the success of a dairy operation, as heifers are the future of the milking herd. There are several important aspects related to pre-weaned calf management, including ...
One phrase is repeated over and over again to describe the outlook for dairy producers in 2017: “cautiously optimistic.” Here’s Progressive Dairyman’s regional “State of Dairy” report.
WEST
1. California’s ...
Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley attended World Ag Expo in Tulare, California, Feb. 14-16, 2017. He walked the show looking for new products and industry trends. Below are his thoughts on what he ...
Policy changes and media attention regarding the Trump administration's executive orders has heightened concerns among dairy producers who hire immigrant labor. To address some of those concerns, the American ...
Shortly after getting married, I took over the task of raising calves on our farm. One of the first tasks I was given was to head to the local Goodwill store to buy fleece vests.
I was a little taken ...
An effort to move California into the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system took a major step forward with USDA’s “recommended decision,” published Feb. 14. Meanwhile, a separate petition from the ...
U.S. farmland values fell in tandem with lower farm incomes to end 2016. While that trend was expected to continue through the first quarter of 2017, several factors will determine the land value direction ...
Most people don’t have fairy godmothers or genies to make their wishes come true. We mortals have to rely on each other to help dreams come true. Katie Grinstead, co-owner of Vir-Clar Farms, a 2,000-cow ...
Two years ago, Zach Short went out to bring in the harvest on his family farm near Salina, Kansas. What started out as a normal day quickly turned into a disaster no one in his family would ever forget. ...
Separate proposals to create a national organic research and promotion program and provide consistency to federal organic livestock production standards have been introduced.
Organic checkoff program ...
In the fall of 2015, the news broke about the Flint water crisis in Michigan, where Flint residents were found to have high blood levels of lead stemming from a contaminated municipal water source.
Today, ...
This month’s VAS DC305 tip is on parlor performance. Using the parlor performance reports in DC305 helps you take advantage of many of the benefits of daily milk meters plus look for cows that fail to ...
A few months ago, I stepped into my boss’s office for my annual review. I sat down and listened as my boss gave me a lot of positive feedback and a couple of things to work on. He offered me a raise, gave ...
During the 2016 Vita Plus Dairy Summit, two dairies shared their strategies for managing through the tough times of milk price lows.
Tubergen tightens ration costs
Dairyman Todd Tubergen from Ionia, ...
Betty Rose Young Elliott never planned to be a trailblazer. When she married Lee Earl Elliott in 1942, she was a 17-year-old city girl who moved to the family’s dairy farm and promptly began raising children ...
In a dairy herd, efficiency and profitability can be achieved or lost depending on the successful balance between production and reproduction. Better reproductive performance benefits the herd directly ...
The commandment “love thy neighbor” is a fixed part of the farmer’s creed, and Illinois farmer Bill Halpin is living out every word.
Halpin, his brother George and nephew Mike grow grain and cattle ...
Created on 09 November 2016
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