Every day more and more dairy producers are hurting from low prices and eroding equity while the light at the end of the tunnel remains as far if not farther away than the day before. The crisis is irrespective ...
You’ve seen it. You’ve done it. A cow enters the sale ring and almost instantly the cow is judged and valued. After the instant thoughts, there will be additional checks and second-looks, but only for ...
The following statements were made in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, and are concerning the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. “We remain very ...
More than 600 members from across the U.S., as well as some guests from Canada and Mexico, attended the National Holstein Convention’s 124th annual meeting recently in Sacramento, California. During the ...
The concept of a margin is not new. Simply put, revenues minus expenses equal the operating margin of a business. Many dairies do not look at their enterprise in margin terms. We assert that following ...
Not a day goes by when I don’t hear someone mention long days at work, lack of family time or the absence of personal time that comes with a poor work-life balance. Working in a hospital setting, I also ...
I’d like you to meet Joe Stewart.
Joe is a personable, second-generation dairy producer from Idaho. Joe manages the family’s 750-cow operation and is always looking for ways to set up systems for better ...
In the movie Pure Country, Grandma Ivy says “… if you follow the roots, you’ll find him.” In my last article, we spent time understanding how the use of options in the dairy markets gives the producer ...
Trimming fresh cow losses and reducing treatment costs are crucial steps to winning the game of tight margins in which we are all now engaged.
If I can help you with some simple ideas to involve your ...
The addition of a manure digester at Crave Brothers Farm made the dairy a little greener in more ways than one. In the past three years the farm has undergone massive infrastructure changes that will be ...
Daryl Jacobs, an Idaho veterinarian, was recently talking to an Iraqi businessman who wanted to start a feedlot. He was going to buy 28 6-month-old bull calves to raise until they were ready to slaughter. ...
John Gilliand is the vice president of dairy operations for McArthur Farms in Okeechobee, Florida. This 8,500-cow dairy operation is comprised of four farms that each operate as individual businesses, ...
In New York’s Finger Lakes Region, between Rochester and Syracuse, Hemdale Farms is proving that what has been commonly seen as “little-farm technology” or “space-age stuff” is practical for a larger dairy. ...
Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley recently asked Tim Amlaw, manager of the American Humane Association’s American Humane Certified program, a few questions about animal welfare and its impact on ...
As producers evaluate expansion plans for the coming years, their focus typically first turns to the lactating cow barns, the milking parlor and manure treatment or storages. After that may come housing ...
During the past 12 months, we have seen near-record-level milk prices in most areas of the country and most recently low milk prices which rivaled the last 10 years. Price volatility in feedstuffs is following ...
The Faria Dairy located in the Texas Panhandle started this year milking its 7,100 cows with the largest rotary in North America. The 106-cow capacity rotary, installed by DeLaval, slowly turns while cows ...
With nearly seven generations of dairy experience behind them, Wim and Nicolien Hammink decided to bring their 300-cow operation to Brookings, South Dakota, in 1995 because of the ample crop feed supply ...
For many producers the first thought related to milk quality is the price premium or incentive they receive in each milk check.
While this additional revenue is a direct result of low somatic cell ...
Cows, cows, everywhere! Where are we going to put “friendly” #2882 now that she is finally pregnant? So the herdsman informed me.
Is this a problem on your dairy? Do you look around and see lots of cows ...
These days, whenever you read or discuss an article about dairy cows, the issue of cow comfort is sure to come up.
As a term, cow comfort has gained acceptance at face value with a defined meaning ...
This month, I will be celebrating my 40th high school reunion. It seems only yesterday I walked the halls of Snowflake Union High as a shy shadow of hopes and unfulfilled dreams. I was born in Winslow, ...
Editor,
I enjoy your publication. My ideaon surplus milk/cow prices is short and sweet.The milk industry caps somatic cell counts at 400,000 nation wide. If that doesn't work, move the bar lower. You ...
July Fourth, Independence Day in the United States of America; the more it changes, the more it stays the same. Our prosperity, armory diplomacy, generosity and faith in democracy is on display around ...
The health of replacement animals is an important component of total herd profitability. The productivity of the herd can be negatively impacted by impaired growth of calves, decreased milk production ...
In very simple terms, dairy profitability can be defined as the difference between milk prices and the cost of production, multiplied by the pounds of milk produced. Thus, milk prices, the cost of production ...
With the recent dramatic drop in milk prices coupled with above- average prices for feed, fertilizer and seed, many are questioning or rethinking if they have the most economical feeding program or if ...
When we talk about someone being ‘over-prepared,’ we think of a person who is very thorough and able to handle all possible contingencies. It is a good habit to have especially if you are someone who regularly ...
The work in Iraq is in many ways like the work anywhere else. Determine where there are constraints, develop a plan to remove them and then implement the plan. Here, at the Ministry of Agriculture in Baghdad, ...
Milk harvesting accounts for almost half of the electricity used on dairies, but fine-tuning an operation offers ways to trim energy costs, a South Dakota State University specialist said. “Dairy producers ...
Created on 20 July 2009
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