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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. 2020 Issue 2, 2020: January 19, 2020 Issue 1, 2020: January 1, 2020 2019 Issue 20, 2019: December 12, ...; Created on 16 October 2019
2. ‘The cows are out!’: (From the Editor); “The cows are out!” Growing up on our family farm, there was no more effective way to catch my parents’ attention than by crying out this panic-striking phrase. These four powerful words could stop my ...; Created on 27 March 2015
3. Names in the News: Rick Steger: (People in the News); Rick Steger of Steger Farms in Theresa, Wisconsin, was recently interviewed for an article that ran in a variety of publications including Daily Finance and International Business Times. The article ...; Created on 27 March 2015
4. Industry Watch List: ‘Get Real’ effort prevails over activist-driven response: (Industry News); The “Get Real” social media initiative rallied and unified the entire industry – and especially dairy farmers – to help raise awareness and interest in the story of “real” milk. The effort, launched ...; Created on 27 March 2015
5. Tours add farm atmosphere to Midwest Manure Summit: (Event Coverage); Nearly 200 people from 31 states and two provinces attended the Midwest Manure Summit in Green Bay, Wisconsin, at the end of February. Hosted by the University of Wisconsin Extension, the summit covered ...; Created on 26 March 2015
6. Pauly Paul: The dairy ‘fix-it’ man: (People); Who do dairies call when their management is in need of repair? The fix-it man. With a little ingenuity and some elbow grease, Pauly Paul turns downtrodden dairies into fine-tuned machines. Paul’s ...; Created on 26 March 2015
7. Should employee management be part of heat abatement?: (Management); When it comes to maintaining milk production during times of heat stress, we often look for the mechanical fix. Fans, sprinklers, misters and other heat abatement systems can certainly be effective ...; Created on 26 March 2015
8. ‘Large-herd’ conference remembers two of its founders: (Event Coverage); Two founding members of the Western Dairy Management Conference were honored in March with memorial lectures during the 12th biennial gathering of the conference in Reno, Nevada. More than 1,600 researchers, ...; Created on 26 March 2015
9. Much-anticipated FDA sampling results validate milk safety: (Industry News); In a survey five years in the making, the FDA found that more than 99 percent of bulk tank milk samples tested were free of drug residues of concern. The report was released March 5, 2015. The FDA’s ...; Created on 26 March 2015
10. Banker leaves his mark on the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association: (People); Jack Banker has spent the past two years leading the Dairy Calf & Heifer Association the same way he runs his own heifer-raising operation: with passion and dedication. Located near Black Creek, ...; Created on 26 March 2015
11. From New York to Mexico: DCHA members take tools home: (Industry News); For producers like Elizabeth Quinn, organizations like the Dairy Calf and Heifer Association (DCHA) are about improving the family operation and reconnecting with old friends. Others, like Santiago Gallo, ...; Created on 26 March 2015
12. Do you know the cost of your self-raised feed?: (Management); What is the cost of growing your own crops? Do you even care? You should care; feed costs are the largest cost of production for a dairy operation and play a key role in getting your company the best bottom ...; Created on 26 March 2015
13. Encourage milk production with heat stress abatement: (Herd Health); Making milk is a lot of work, which is why it is important to provide a comfortable environment for the dairy cow, especially as temperatures rise. In fact, research shows that when cows spends more ...; Created on 26 March 2015
14. Comfort with robots: Why stall surface is important: (Barns & Equipment); From conventional to robotic milking, we see really no significant differences in the freestall dimensions recommended for comfortable dairy cows. Over the past years, there have been changes in recommended ...; Created on 26 March 2015
15. Dealing with lameness in mattress freestall facilities: (Herd Health); Numerous surveys have identified lower lameness prevalence in freestall facilities using deep, loose-bedded stall surfaces compared to mat-bedded or mattress-bedded facilities. The difference does not ...; Created on 25 March 2015
16. Assessment addresses lying time, lameness and hock injuries: (Industry News); Undercover videos and social media have brought too much focus to poor cow comfort and issues in the dairy industry. However, the industry’s increasing awareness and proactive approach to maximize cow ...; Created on 25 March 2015
17. Maintenance is key element of successful heat abatement: (Barns & Equipment); Setting a plan, fan selection, applying soaking, evaporative cooling or misting are all critical processes within your heat-abatement strategy, but let’s not forget the important role of system maintenance ...; Created on 25 March 2015
18. Kick out unwanted residents with year-round bird control: (Barns & Equipment); Dairy barns aren’t meant to be havens for birds. While European starlings are often the most visible and destructive birds on dairy farms, they typically don’t present a year-round concern. But other ...; Created on 25 March 2015
19. Cooled dry cows have healthier, more productive offspring: (Calves & Heifers); Research shows that cooling late-gestation dry cows leads not only to healthier calves but also offers advantages in long-term reproduction and milking performance of those offspring. Many studies ...; Created on 25 March 2015
20. Plan ahead to protect against heat stress: (Herd Health); Heat stress has a significant negative impact on milk production and the dairy cow’s immune system, weakening her defenses against a myriad of metabolic diseases and infections. The sooner you begin ...; Created on 25 March 2015
21. 15-year-old freestall barn gets a facelift at Larson Acres: (Barns & Equipment); A 15-year-old building may seem new to some, but for Mike Larson, general manager at Larson Acres, their barn built in 1998 was in need of some updates. “We’ve learned a lot about cow comfort in 15 years,” ...; Created on 25 March 2015
22. Tube ventilation system provides more efficient cow cooling: (Barns & Equipment); Regardless of the season, dairy producers are always looking for ways to make their cows more comfortable, but when hot summertime temperatures set in, the holding area can be a particularly stale and ...; Created on 25 March 2015
23. 5 questions for planning a new dairy facility: (Barns & Equipment); If we are going to continue to be a competitive dairy business, what are we going to do about updating our facilities? That is the question that keeps running through your head. Just coming off a record-setting ...; Created on 25 March 2015
24. Building your dream facility: (Barns & Equipment); Each producer has his or her own “idea” of what a dream facility may be. One person’s may be to expand because the next generation is going to enter the family farm, while another may be looking at how ...; Created on 25 March 2015
25. Fetch fewer cows for better milking efficiency: (Barns & Equipment); Robot customer Mike Haines’ point of view is one many robotic dairy producers share: “I didn’t put these things in because I have money. I put them in to have a life,” Mike says. Mike and his wife, Heather, ...; Created on 24 March 2015
26. Hemdale Farms finds success with robots despite challenges: (Barns & Equipment); Hemdale Farms in Seneca Castle, New York, installed its first automatic milking units in 2007. Two years later, the parlor ceased operation, and since then the number of robots has steadily increased. ...; Created on 24 March 2015
27. Why we chose robots: Featuring Austin Farms: (Barns & Equipment); For the Austin family of southwest Washington, robots were the answer to a needed milking center upgrade that would carry them into the future. Ron is the fifth generation on this organic dairy farm. ...; Created on 24 March 2015
28. Management decisions enhanced with robotic milking data: (Management); One of the benefits to adopting an automatic milking system is all of the information readily available for users to access. In a webinar with the Penn State Extension Technology Tuesday series, Mat ...; Created on 24 March 2015
29. In-house hoof trimming leads to less lameness on Idaho dairy: (Herd Health); Steve Gerratt cares a lot about his cows – all 6,250 of them. That’s why he decided to improve animal health and welfare by taking on lameness with his own two hands … literally. Gerratt is a part-owner ...; Created on 24 March 2015
30. What you really wanted to know about footbaths: (Herd Health); Understanding the purpose of a footbath and how to more effectively use one on your dairy can save money and enhance the safety of cows, people and the environment. With all the talk and various topics ...; Created on 24 March 2015
31. ‘Clayborne! Clayborne! Bring me some cows!’: (Guest Blog); Along life’s travels, it seems we run into some very interesting people. Most of the time we have no idea how they will impact our lives, but sometimes there is absolutely no doubt in your mind that ...; Created on 24 March 2015
32. 5 Things I can't do without: Lee and Nate Carlson: (People); Dairymen in southeastern Minnesota have likely heard of Carlson Hoof Trimming, a second-generation family business that has literally shaped the way cows walk for nearly 40 years. Lee Carlson left ...; Created on 24 March 2015
33. Designing and evaluating a hoof trimming program: (Herd Health); As dairy farmers, you try to do everything you can to keep your cows comfortable, clean and healthy. Even still, there are things you wish you could do differently – and maybe you would if you had the ...; Created on 24 March 2015
34. Just dropping by ... God’s Easter basket: (Yevet Tenney); When I was a child, Easter was a big event. We’d wake up early and hunt for the basket. It was a magical time, and the excitement was high. The yard was filled with new green grass, and the crocus and ...; Created on 24 March 2015
35. Mechanics Corner: Tips to extend tire life: (Barns & Equipment); Ag tires are expensive, yet here are some simple steps farmers can take to maintain them. Data books provided by tire manufacturers are often long, boring and complicated, so to simplify these recommendations, ...; Created on 24 March 2015
36. The Milk House: Cowboy 1823259: (Ryan Dennis); This past year, our television sets have asked us a very fundamental question: Where’s Jill? The query was posed by a concerned horse, and a quick answer was given by a white dog with a Southern accent: ...; Created on 24 March 2015
37. HERd management: What matters most: (Guest Blog); In today’s world, it seems that we are always asked to describe ourselves in two or three sentences, whether it is in the “About” section on our social media profile pages or the quick introduction we ...; Created on 23 March 2015
38. Don’t complain about bad decisions; change how they’re made: (Management); A farm had been losing money for years, and only its rising land values kept the bank complacent. The wife, Ida, laid down the law that either the farm started making money or it was to be sold, even if ...; Created on 23 March 2015
39. Life on the family farm under an open heaven: It really pays to pray: (Guest Blog); Some people think praying is a waste of time, but we here know that to be totally untrue. As a matter of fact, sometimes it literally means the difference between life and death. Such was the case here ...; Created on 23 March 2015
40. The language of nutrition: DCAD (Dietary cation-anion difference): (Feed & Nutrition); In layman’s terms,what does DCAD mean? DCAD stands for dietary cation-anion difference. It is a simple calculation of adding together the milliequivalents of dietary cations (sodium + potassium) and ...; Created on 23 March 2015
41. Letters to the Editor: Oral calcium drenches: (Guest Blog); Dear Editor, This letter is in response to a recent article in your magazine, “Make educated choice on transition cows’ calcium deliver” in the Feb. 25th edition. We would like to clarify some information ...; Created on 23 March 2015
42. The Manure Spreader: Fish sticks: (Tim Moffett); There are many types of strange things farmers grow and raise, but we will talk about that another time. Right now, I would like to talk about my neighbor Arlie. He has decided to be a fish farmer – and ...; Created on 23 March 2015
43. Proper comfort and feed management for the 'ultimate dining experience': (Event Coverage); Time is money. According to Dr. Rick Grant of W.H. Miner Research Institute in Chazy, New York, this holds true even for the modern dairy cow. During a Penn State Extension “Technology Tuesday” webinar ...; Created on 26 February 2015