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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. Checkoff Watch: Partnerships bring potential for U.S. dairy in international marketplace: (Organizations); There is a growing appetite for Western-style food in the international diet, and the dairy checkoff is working to put U.S. dairy on menus far beyond our borders. Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), which ...; Created on 27 March 2019
3. Progressive Events: Western Dairy Management Conference: (Event Coverage); Many attendees at Western Dairy Management Conference experienced delayed flights or a bumpy ride into Reno, Nevada, for the 14th edition of the biennial event. High wind advisories grounded many flights ...; Created on 27 March 2019
4. What happened? What’s next? - Tentative Dairy Margin Coverage timeline released: (Industry News); You’re busy – milking cows, managing employees and getting ready for spring. With that in mind, Progressive Dairyman looks at issues in the news impacting you and your dairy business. In recognition ...; Created on 27 March 2019
5. Using your inside resource to increase productivity: (Management); Now more than ever, dairy producers need to focus on the productivity of their farm operations using an inside resource: their employees. “When it comes to management, employees are a critical part ...; Created on 27 March 2019
6. Considerations for incremental growth on your dairy: (Management); Growing your dairy farm requires a strategic plan, one that positions it for success in the long term. That plan forms the basis for incremental growth, focused on putting numerous small steps together ...; Created on 27 March 2019
7. Unrelenting stress can contribute to mental health concerns: (Management); Editor’s note: The author, an Indiana dairy producer and freelance writer, continues her exploration of resources and methods to help dairy farmers deal with farm stress. Find a comprehensive list of programs, ...; Created on 27 March 2019
8. 5 steps to finding farm and family balance: (Management); Do you ever feel like when you cross one thing off your to-do list, two more things get added? There’s no doubt responsibilities on the farm and at home can pile up quickly. And when faced with challenging ...; Created on 27 March 2019
9. Editorial advisers: Maintenance priorities, deferrals: (Management); Progressive Dairyman recently introduced readers to our new group of editorial advisers (See “Meet Progressive Dairyman’s 2019 reader advisers,” March 12, 2019, issue). This panel of dairy farmers ...; Created on 27 March 2019
10. Panelists outline dairy discussion group practices: (Event Coverage); Although they may take on various forms, dairy discussion groups involve individuals with common interests who gather to exchange information and ideas, compare methods and support one other. Grants offered ...; Created on 27 March 2019
11. Virginia heifer raisers share insight on how they raise quality heifers: (Calves & Heifers); “There’s always something to learn,” Sam Gardner, co-owner and farm manager of Gardner Heifers in Huddleston, Virginia, says. “If you’re going to be involved in any industry, you really need to be out ...; Created on 27 March 2019
12. Spring clean fans for good looks and greater efficiencies: (Barns & Equipment); Grotegut Dairy in Newton, Wisconsin, is always photo-ready. As the Wisconsin Farm Discovery Center’s designated tour partner, the 2,700-cow dairy welcomes several daily bus tours filled with visitors from ...; Created on 27 March 2019
13. New developments in facility design: (Barns & Equipment); Consumers continue to pressure the dairy industry for facility improvements that promote natural animal behaviors, including freedom of movement and socialization, and researchers are learning how to adapt ...; Created on 27 March 2019
14. Robot barns: Retrofit or build new?: (Barns & Equipment); For dairies considering robotic milking, one common question often asked is whether it is best to build a new barn or retrofit an existing one. The answer, typically, is: “It depends.” I suggest your answer ...; Created on 26 March 2019
15. New York couples share pros and cons of compost-bedded pack barns: (Barns & Equipment); Bedded pack barns – either deep-bedded or compost bedded – allow cows to freely roam and lie down in any configuration they prefer. Manure is kept in place and managed in solid form. The bedded pack ...; Created on 26 March 2019
16. Extend parlor life with routine maintenance: (Barns & Equipment); Maintaining your equipment is key to maximizing its longevity. More often than not, maintenance of milking parlor stalls and gates is forgotten until something breaks down. By being proactive with ...; Created on 26 March 2019
17. 4 ways to cut back on a new build without compromising cow comfort: (Barns & Equipment); Trying to figure out how to make the numbers work on a new-construction barn can be a bit challenging when you know exactly what you want, but the price exceeds your budget allowance. Cow comfort is not ...; Created on 26 March 2019
18. Ventilating dairy facilities: The cost of comfort: (Barns & Equipment); Ventilation systems in the U.S. are divided into two main types: natural and mechanical ventilation systems. These are then subdivided into four types: natural, tunnel (where the air flows parallel ...; Created on 26 March 2019
19. Are your cows getting enough water? Analyze quality, quantity and taste: (Herd Health); Dairy cows need water to turn feed into milk – a product that is already nearly 90 percent water. Achieving ideal water intake comes down to two criteria: quantity and quality. While that seems like ...; Created on 26 March 2019
20. Comprehensive control: Four key components of an effective IPM program: (Herd Health); Nuisance flies are a vector of disease and an irritant to cattle and workers on a dairy operation. Because of the confined nature of a dairy, it is important to use an integrated pest management (IPM) ...; Created on 26 March 2019
21. Key indicators to measure cow comfort in your herd: (Herd Health); Talking about cow comfort involves listening to and understanding numerous opinions on this issue. Nevertheless, what is real cow comfort? How can it be judged? In addition, maybe even more importantly, ...; Created on 26 March 2019
22. Making nutrient management planning compliance a reality: (Manure); Reading and interpreting a nutrient management plan (NMP) can be intimidating. The plan has a lot of charts, numbers and symbols. Restriction maps include a lot of squiggly lines, different-colored hash ...; Created on 26 March 2019
23. Control what’s growing in your bedding: (Manure); Using dried manure solids for bedding is becoming more common among U.S. dairy herds. It allows farms an alternative way to handle manure, and it can help offset bedding costs – a large expense on many ...; Created on 26 March 2019
24. Just dropping by ... An allegory of socialism: (Yevet Tenney); It was a magnificent house with all the trappings of grandeur: marble pillars, spiral staircases and stained-glass windows. Passersby and foreigners always bowed their heads, crossed themselves or just ...; Created on 26 March 2019
25. Equipment Hub: The nuts and bolts of bolts: (Barns & Equipment); Have you even been looking for a bolt, found what you thought was the correct bolt, only to find it would not thread up? Or have you ever looked at the top of a bolt and wondered what those numbers or ...; Created on 26 March 2019
26. The Milk House: High noon at a farm eviction: (Ryan Dennis); Four burned-out vehicles. Three men hospitalized. Bats and axe handles lying in the mud. A dead dog. The aftermath looked apocalyptic at Anthony McGann’s farm in rural Ireland. Or the stuff of old westerns. ...; Created on 26 March 2019
27. HERd Management: It takes a village to run a farm: Appreciate yours and reach out if needed: (Guest Blog); When we were pregnant with our first daughter, people always said, “It takes a village to raise a baby.” If you’ve never had kids, you might not realize that maxim is definitely true. Even if you don’t ...; Created on 26 March 2019
28. The Manure Spreader: Hug a heifer: (Tim Moffett); When I heard of goat yoga, I thought the tree huggers had lost their minds. I thought there was no way this was real. I was wrong – first time ever. Well, now there is a thing called “cow cuddling.” ...; Created on 26 March 2019
29. Pros and cons of four different robot configurations: (Barns & Equipment); Whether you are building a new barn or retrofitting an existing structure, deciding on the proper robot layout is a critical yet enjoyable process. There are several different options and configurations ...; Created on 25 March 2019
30. How I Work: Custom manure pumping business manages tighter application windows: (Manure); With agriculture and farming in his DNA, Rick Martens is operating a business from the farm that has been in his family for generations. Located 80 miles north of Minneapolis, Minnesota, the century-old ...; Created on 27 February 2019
31. 5 tips for beginning a modernization project on your dairy: (Guest Blog); In June 2017, we embarked on what was going to be a roller-coaster ride for the next 16 months. It was that summer our dairy equipment company representative took the family on our first tour of robotic ...; Created on 04 February 2019
32. 7 benchmarks for the best bedding quality: (Barns & Equipment); Promoting a surface on which cows want to lie down is about more than just comfort. The bedding material a dairy chooses plays a critical role in preventing mastitis, reducing injury, regulating temperature ...; Created on 21 January 2019
33. A fresh take on ventilation design: The all-seasons hybrid barn: (Barns & Equipment); When building a dairy barn, choosing between natural and mechanical ventilation can be a tough decision; however, a novel design brings the two methods together to create a controllable environment with ...; Created on 14 January 2019
34. Then and now: The comeback of manure gutter cleaners: (Manure); Technology continues to push the dairy industry forward with bigger, better, more automated equipment – yet some old reliables are making a comeback. Manure gutter cleaners have existed for more than 60 ...; Created on 27 November 2018