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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 Milk House: The giant man wearing a top hat in the desert: (Ryan Dennis); 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 ...; Created on 06 May 2016
3. The Manure Spreader: The love doctor: (Tim Moffett); 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 ...; Created on 06 May 2016
4. HERd management: Breaking down the big stuff: (Guest Blog); 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. ...; Created on 06 May 2016
5. For the love of ... the little red barn: (From the Editor); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
6. Why the dairy checkoff partnered with Domino’s: (Organizations); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
7. Dairy industry ‘inspired’ at PDPW Business Conference: (Event Coverage); “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, ...; Created on 05 May 2016
8. Thousands come together for Central Plains Dairy Expo: (Event Coverage); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
9. Domestic sales of butter, cheese and whole milk up in 2015: (Industry News); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
10. Improve cow comfort, production with job instruction training: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
11. Perfection vs. imperfection: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
12. Automatic milking systems find their way out West: (Barns & Equipment); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
13. Optimize robotic performance: 5 tips to prevent midnight wake-up calls: (Management); 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, ...; Created on 05 May 2016
14. Compare similar robotic milking farms for better benchmarking: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
15. Maintenance before failure: (Management); 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. ...; Created on 05 May 2016
16. Keys to dairy cooling in hot and dry climates: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
17. Baleage: The hottest thing in haymaking: (Barns & Equipment); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
18. Honey wagons and pinch points: A personal perspective from lessons learned: (Barns & Equipment); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
19. Food fight to market: barge, truck or rail: (Management); 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 ...; Created on 05 May 2016
20. Finding fuel trailers that fit your operation: (Barns & Equipment); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
21. Total cost of ownership: Extending equipment life: (Barns & Equipment); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
22. Tune up or trade in? Evaluating your disc mower-conditioner: (Barns & Equipment); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
23. Additives and supplements: What are they supposed to do for me?: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
24. Dietary supplements: How do you know you are making the right investment?: (Feed & Nutrition); 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, ...; Created on 04 May 2016
25. NDF digestibility: Are you confused?: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
26. An Indiana dairyman finds a simpler way to feed: (People); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
27. The evolution of protein evaluation in dairy diets: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
28. High-quality or right-quality forage?: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
29. Corn silage, feeding management and economic effects: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
30. What is lignin? How does it impact alfalfa quality and yield?: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
31. How to sharpen a drill bit: (Barns & Equipment); 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. ...; Created on 04 May 2016
32. Bacteria strains matter: (Herd Health); 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? ...; Created on 04 May 2016
33. Just dropping by ... Sign seeking vs. seeing miracles: (Yevet Tenney); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
34. The language of nutrition: Definitions of energy acronyms: (Feed & Nutrition); 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) ...; Created on 04 May 2016
35. Trace minerals in forages: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
36. Using canola meal with forages: (Feed & Nutrition); 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 ...; Created on 04 May 2016
37. Global dairy recovery timeline hinges on European Union: (Industry News); 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 ...; Created on 04 April 2016
38. This is my (dairy) fight song: (Guest Blog); 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 ...; Created on 29 March 2016
39. Will new policy on checkoff programs lead to U.S. dairy market in Cuba?: (Industry News); 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 ...; Created on 24 March 2016
40. Dairy industry still processing Walmart’s potential impact: (Industry News); 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