Click a link below to see updates on cattle from a specific issue of Progressive Dairy.
2021
Issue 2, 2021: January 19, 2021 Issue 1, 2021: January 1, 2021
2020 Issue 20, 2020: December 12, ...
It wasn’t long after we left Wells and set out into the lifeless gravel that I realized I underestimated the amount of water I should have carried. Even before I ran out, I became faint. Not wanting to ...
It has been brought to my attention that dating among farmers has taken a new approach. There are now websites just for single farmers to meet other single farmers. Long gone are the days of being introduced ...
Last year, I found myself in a frustrating situation at my off-farm job as a structural engineer. I had multiple projects with overlapping schedules and similar scopes, and I could barely keep them straight. ...
These days, it seems everyone loves the little red barn.
That includes Craig Culver, former CEO and founder of Culver’s restaurants.
He spoke at the Professional Dairy Producers Business Conference ...
Pizza cheese – once a decades-long staple for dairy farmers’ bottom line – was showing signs of trouble in the mid-2000s after several years of continual decline.
Companies were putting less cheese ...
“Inspire” was the theme for the 24th annual Professional Dairy Producers Business Conference, which fulfilled its purpose of motivating and exciting more than 1,600 dairy producers and industry partners, ...
A record crowd of 4,250 people traveled to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for the 2016 Central Plains Dairy Expo, March 29-31.
South Dakota dairyman and expo board vice president Craig Krogstad called ...
Domestic commercial disappearance of all manufactured dairy products was up in 2015. Even though fluid milk sales continued their downward trend, sales of whole milk were actually higher in 2015 compared ...
Cow comfort is a top-of-mind topic for farmers and consumers alike. Optimizing cow comfort is key to profitability on the dairy, as it is linked with higher milk production, reproduction and improved herd ...
In farming, we have a culture of putting out the white picket fence and hiding our mistakes. Instead, we need to flip this attitude around and, instead of sweeping our mistakes under the rug, get really ...
In 2000, the first automatic milking system was installed in the U.S. Slow, then rapid, growth had robots popping up across the Midwest and Northeast; however, the technology wasn’t moving West – until ...
As you look back on that fateful day, it seems time will forever be distinguished between pre- and post-installation.
You did your homework, had endless discussions with dealers and manufacturers, ...
Have you ever contemplated benchmarking data for the top 10th percentile of farms and thought, “There is no way I will be able to reach that level” or “I’ve been at that number for years without a lot ...
If you want to keep your milking system operating at peak performance, cutting maintenance costs is not the way to go. Regular, scheduled maintenance can prevent emergency repairs and costly parlor downtime. ...
Implementing cow cooling has been shown to provide clear economic benefits in the hot, dry climates of the American Southwest as well as parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Heat abatement is ...
It’s the hottest thing in haymaking. For years, hay producers have obsessed over weather forecasts, watching with worried eyes as red digital rain clouds swept in their direction.
Ominous circles representing ...
As owner of W D Farms, a manure application and trucking company, we’ve been hauling manure and other organic byproducts for land application since 1987.
Over our many years of operation, these are ...
Transportation costs are a fact of life that, for most people, begins and ends at the gas station with today’s posted price of gasoline or diesel.
But for farmers, getting agricultural products to ...
The need for portable fuel transfer has always been an issue for farmers, but today with expanding farm operations, the need for safe and efficient fuel transfer is greater than ever.
Due to rising ...
In many cases, farm owners decide to purchase equipment rather than rent it because they have a consistent long-term need for it.
Additionally, the tax benefits that come with owning equipment can ...
Most people who consider themselves to be mechanically inclined often struggle with the question of whether to tune up or trade in a disc mower-conditioner. For some it’s like admitting defeat to trade ...
Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series on feed additives and supplements. Click here to read the first of the series (More additives, supplements than you can shake a stick at).
Even ...
Dairy producers and their nutrition advisers have an ever-expanding list of supplements that can be considered when formulating diets. These products include modifiers of rumen fermentation, silage additives, ...
The impact of fiber digestion on dairy nutrition is complex, and all the measurements of fiber digestion listed on the forage report add to the confusion. Understanding fiber digestion requires knowledge ...
If you were at World Dairy Expo last year, chances are you saw a bright yellow self-propelled mixer wagon on display. After all, the mixer was the first of its kind to touch American soil, coming all the ...
Long, long ago and far, far away, crude protein (CP) was used as the sole measure of the protein value of ingredients. Up until some 45 years ago, it was felt that this (CP [N x 6.25], along with total ...
Cows are designed to use forage. It keeps them productive and healthy. Forage quality sets the limits for how much forage we can feed and the ceiling on how well animals can perform. We include as much ...
Editor’s note: This is the second part of a three-part series. To read the first part of this three-part series, go to (Corn silage, feeding management, cash-flow effects)
Cropping management and corn ...
Alfalfa is an excellent source of fiber and an energy-rich, high-quality protein source, making it a staple ingredient in most dairy cow diets.
When it comes to harvesting this versatile crop, the ...
We all know the drill (pun intended). You’re in a mad dash to get something fixed and back on-line. All you need is to drill one hole and run a bolt through it to hold whatever in place, and you are finished. ...
Lactobacillus this … Pediococcus that … Enterococcus another thing … Sounds to me like a repeat of the old Abbott and Costello baseball routine, “Who’s On First?” Remember, “Who’s on first? What’s on second? ...
Recently, I re-read the gospels and marveled at the wonderful miracles Jesus performed in His ministry on the earth. I also marveled at the blindness of the scribes and Pharisees, who took no notice of ...
GE, DE, ME, NEL, NEm, NEg
There are a number of key dairy nutrition terms – like gross energy, digestible energy, metabolizable energy and more
– to describe the energy contribution (as megacalories) ...
Trace minerals are those minerals required by dairy cattle and youngstock in very small amounts – usually at the milligram level per day. The occurrence of trace minerals in forages is largely dependent ...
When low milk prices or high ingredient prices occur, dairy producers look to save money any way they can. Feeding more homegrown forage and fewer purchased ingredients is an available option.
In addition ...
Two major agricultural banks forecast an improved global dairy price picture, but differ slightly on the timeline. The European Union (EU) is the epicenter for both.
With a weak first quarter, the ...
I was sitting in a room full of dairy farmers recently, fidgeting in my dress slacks as the meeting was about to begin. There was lots of chatter about who was from what area, how many cows each of us ...
President Barack Obama’s historic trip to Cuba was accompanied by an announcement U.S. agricultural commodity checkoff programs will be allowed to finance some marketing, promotion and research activities ...
More than a year away, Walmart’s planned entry into the milk processing business is already sending ripples through the dairy industry.
On March 18, Walmart announced plans for a milk processing facility ...
Created on 24 March 2016
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