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Current Progressive Dairy digital edition

1. PD POLL: Should routine tail docking be an approved animal care standard on dairy farms?: (Industry News); According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the practice of tail docking in the dairy industry began in the early 1900s in New Zealand as a method to reduce the incidence of leptospirosis ...; Created on 29 August 2012
2. The secret success of bees: (From the Editor); I recently read an interesting blog post about how bees manage their time and resources. The author Michael O’Malley’s main point is that: “Honeybees have institutionalized procedures that prevent catastrophic ...; Created on 29 August 2012
3. September 1, 2012 issue: Checkoff Watch: (Organizations); Click here to download a pdf of the latest Dairy Checkoff in Action provided by Dairy Management Inc.™ (DMI); Created on 29 August 2012
4. InFocus: Waterman Dairy Farm: (Organizations); Two years ago, leaders of Ohio State’s animal science department decided to cut the campus dairy herd, located at the Waterman Dairy Farm, from two breeds to one. The Holsteins were sold to the state ...; Created on 29 August 2012
5. University of Idaho offers series of manure-handling field days: (Event Coverage); With grant funding from the NRCS, the University of Idaho has recently created a series of field days focusing on manure handling on dairy operations. The first of such field days about manure collection ...; Created on 29 August 2012
6. Identify the right employees for management roles: (Management); Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series on developing middle managers. The next article will discuss how to develop protocols and provide training. It will be followed by an article describing ...; Created on 29 August 2012
7. Don’t look back: Something might be gaining on you: (Management); It is amazing how much the current and future outlook for dairy production has changed since I last penned an article for Progressive Dairyman in June. At that point, experts were forecasting a record ...; Created on 29 August 2012
8. Taxes: Pay on the seed you buy or the crop you harvest?: (Management); Have you ever wondered if you were saving money in the most tax-efficient way? People like to talk about asset allocation (the mix of stocks and bonds in your investment portfolio), but few ever talk about ...; Created on 29 August 2012
9. Have you stopped growing?: (Guest Blog); Do you remember the “tree interview” that Barbara Walters did with Katharine Hepburn back in the early ’80s? She asked her, “If you were a tree, what kind of a tree would you be?” In all fairness to Walters, ...; Created on 29 August 2012
10. 3 open minutes with Thomas Hertz & Steve Zahniser: (Management); The USDA recently completed an analysis of potential economic and productivity impacts from changes to the availability of farm labor. Their results found that dairy would be one of the sectors most affected ...; Created on 28 August 2012
11. Guiding expectations in times of a drought: (Feed & Nutrition); Had anyone asked a corn and soybean grower in June what their forecast for fall grain prices were, chances are good that the response would have centered around one word … Lower! However, much has changed ...; Created on 28 August 2012
12. How to value corn silage in 2012’s drought: (Feed & Nutrition); What’s it worth? You might be surprised at the variety of items of which dairy nutritionists are asked to assess the value. Partially intact feed bins, antique farm equipment, crossbred bull calves ...; Created on 28 August 2012
13. Accounting for livestock sales due to drought-related conditions: (Management); Livestock held for draft, breeding or dairy purposes that are sold as a result of drought or weather-related conditions may qualify for favorable tax treatment. Gain does not have to be recognized on ...; Created on 28 August 2012
14. Optimizing feed efficiency: Feed and non-feed factors: (Feed & Nutrition); Feed prices for the last five years have been at historic highs. Coupled with periods of low milk prices, this has resulted in extremely tight (sometimes negative) margins for dairy producers. The ability ...; Created on 28 August 2012
15. Rumen fluid extraction made easy: (Herd Health); “For years and years, we’ve all known the very best thing for a sick cow is to receive healthy rumen fluid,” says Bernie Mulder, founder of Drench-Mate. Yet, until now, there hasn’t been an easy way to ...; Created on 28 August 2012
16. New research confirms the two most important hours on a dairy: (Calves & Heifers); There are many things dairy producers do every day to keep cows healthy and productive, but there may be nothing more important than focusing on the first two hours when a calf is born. A recent article ...; Created on 28 August 2012
17. Roundtable on automatic calf feeding: What we still need to know: (Calves & Heifers); Progressive Dairyman recently reached out to several industry researchers to provide up-to-date information about automatic calf feeding. Roundtable participants include: Tom Earleywine, technical ...; Created on 28 August 2012
18. Raise healthy, productive replacements: (Feed & Nutrition); Dairy heifers have a lot riding on their shoulders. They may not be competing in the Olympics but, like an athlete, they must prepare and perform at their best or they won’t go home a winner. Your role ...; Created on 28 August 2012
19. Calf nutrition, management have productivity impacts: (Feed & Nutrition); The first two months of a calf’s life can be challenging due to high risk of scours and respiratory disease – but this time is also one of opportunity because calves have the potential to grow very efficiently. ...; Created on 28 August 2012
20. Raising dairy replacements for reproduction success: (A.I. & Breeding); To maintain a profitable business model and maximize productivity, producers need to be highly efficient with available resources. In today’s dairy industry, high genetic potential in heifers is one of ...; Created on 28 August 2012
21. Activity monitors for estrus detection: Right for your dairy?: (A.I. & Breeding); Technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace – and technology in the dairy industry is no exception. Some is considered “disruptive” technology, defined by Clayton Christensen of Harvard University ...; Created on 28 August 2012
22. Prostaglandin F2α products: Are there differences?: (A.I. & Breeding); Many dairy veterinarians prescribe the use of prostaglandin F2α (PG) in dairy herds to control time to estrus (heat), as part of synchronization programs or for postpartum treatments. There are two primary ...; Created on 28 August 2012
23. There is a real cost to inbreeding: (A.I. & Breeding); The economics of the dairy industry today continue to squeeze the bottom line of every operation. Naturally, expenses and feed rations have been under tremendous scrutiny by every business manager. Likewise, ...; Created on 28 August 2012
24. Who can legally preg check cows in your state?: (A.I. & Breeding); Short of animal abuse, dairy owners are pretty much free to do whatever they want with their own cattle. That includes checking cows for pregnancy, whether by conventional trans-rectal palpation or ...; Created on 28 August 2012
25. HERd management: Am I crazy? No, we all are: (Management); When asked to write this piece for Progressive Dairyman, I was asked to write about the misconceptions about organic dairy farming. The main thing I want you to know is: We are not crazy. Well, maybe ...; Created on 28 August 2012
26. The Milk House: Assessing the big ‘N’: (Ryan Dennis); Thomas Jefferson and his fellow Agrarian philosophers founded the new republic of America on the idea that the farmer was the ideal citizen. One of his reasons for claiming legitimacy for the occupation ...; Created on 28 August 2012
27. Just dropping by ... The timeless Gettysburg Address: (Yevet Tenney); In seventh grade, I memorized the Gettysburg Address. At the time, the speech was just pleasing words grouped together in a concise poetic manner.I have quoted them many times since, but until recently ...; Created on 28 August 2012
28. MECHANICS CORNER: Take advantage of oil analysis data: (Barns & Equipment); Each year, dairymen, farmers, truckers and equipment operators spend an ever-increasing amount of money on maintenance costs. The most expensive of all maintenance repairs are those of catastrophic failures, ...; Created on 28 August 2012
29. Rehder Farms: ‘There is life after dairy’: (People); Editor’s note: As part of Progressive Dairyman’s 25th anniversary celebration, we’ve checked back in with the producers and businesses we’ve profiled over the years. We profiled Rehder Farms of Cottonwood, ...; Created on 28 August 2012
30. On the Edge of Common Sense: Smoke in the air: (Baxter Black); Smoke in the air. Every summer we watch hundreds of thousands of acres of forest burn. As I listen to folks anguish and wring their hands, I have to remind myself it is all part of nature’s cycle in the ...; Created on 28 August 2012
31. The View from Here: Land use: City life vs. rural life: (Guest Blog); I am now home from Africa. My duty station is East Lansing, Michigan, on the Ecological Sciences Staff at the NRCS state office. I am on standby status, which means if I am needed to go somewhere outside ...; Created on 28 August 2012
32. On the Edge of Common Sense: Play like I'm not here: (Baxter Black); Ranch hands and cowboys often get put in the position of playing host to all manner of guests, reporters, owners’ grandchildren and bank vice presidents. Dave works on a ranch in south Florida. In the ...; Created on 28 August 2012
33. /MORE: Links to trending topic articles: (From the Editor); For our readers' convenience, we've compiled a list of all of the trending topic articles features. July 1, 2013: A.I. company hand-picked its preferred activity monitor system June 11, 2013: Flavor ...; Created on 30 December 2011
34. Market Watch: Cattle [2012]: (Industry News); Click a link below to see updates on Cattle from a specific issue of Progressive Dairyman. Issue 18 2012: December 11, 2012 Issue 17 2012: November 21, 2012 Issue 16 2012: November 1, 2012 Issue ...; Created on 27 December 2010