Search - Progressive Dairy

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. Confessions of an ‘ugly cow’ lover: (From the Editor); In the July 19 issue of Progressive Dairyman, my colleague Peggy Coffeen confessed to us readers that she has felt like kind of an outsider. She’s writing for a commercial dairy magazine, but she not-so-secretly ...; Created on 21 August 2014
3. Names in the News: Ken Nobis: (People in the News); Ken Nobis is an active member of the Nobis Dairy Farms team, which milks 1,050 cows and farms 3,400 acres in Clinton County, Michigan. He is also the president of the Michigan Milk Producers Association. ...; Created on 21 August 2014
4. Health & Wellness Watch: Fuel Up to Play 60 helps maintain dairy’s place in schools: (Industry News); A nutritious diet including dairy is just one part of the equation to assure healthy schoolchildren across the country. Students also need 60 minutes of physical activity each day to maintain a healthy ...; Created on 21 August 2014
5. Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange tours central Kentucky dairies: (Event Coverage); Around the world and back again, the eighth annual Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange on July 29-30 covered a lot of ground. Not only did 100 attendees from both states visit five central Kentucky farms selected ...; Created on 21 August 2014
6. Managing employee conflict: Cows can be the easy part: (Management); In today’s busy world, with all our electronic forms of communication, conflict can arise very quickly. Workplaces have evolved from authority-controlled (where people are told their specific tasks) to ...; Created on 21 August 2014
7. What might best HR practices really look like on a dairy?: (Management); During several in-depth interviews with dairy owners and managers regarding personnel management, we often heard about challenges and the difficulties associated with managing people. However, in most ...; Created on 21 August 2014
8. Organic promotion program: What’s really at stake for dairies?: (Industry News); A proposed organic agriculture promotion program has rankled some organic dairy producers. But what is really at stake for organic dairies in the possible creation of an organic promotion program? When ...; Created on 21 August 2014
9. The relationship between milk price, several other ag factors: (Guest Blog); Several months ago, I wrote an article discussing the relationship between milk price and several economic factors to determine if there was a correlation between these economic indicators and the Class ...; Created on 21 August 2014
10. Producers confident in real-time margin projections: (Management); Two dairymen who are test-driving web-based margin projection software both say the program is giving them increased confidence in their management decisions. One of the two is even taking steps to lock ...; Created on 21 August 2014
11. New England dairy producers discover ways to promote the industry: (People); There are 313 million people living in the U.S. Of that 313 million, only 2 percent are directly involved in agricultural production, and few more understand the importance of it for the sustainability ...; Created on 21 August 2014
12. Mr. Chairman, Society can benefit from biotechnology in agriculture.: (Guest Blog); The following statements are from the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology and Foreign Agriculture public hearing on July 9, which discussed the benefits ...; Created on 21 August 2014
13. Bovine colostrum: Not just for calves any more: (Calves & Heifers); Bovine colostrum has come a long way in the past few decades. It’s no longer just the “first milk” fed to calves to boost their immune systems. Now it’s used in a growing list of products for humans. ...; Created on 21 August 2014
14. 6 tips to consider when shopping for colostrum replacement: (Calves & Heifers); Born without an active immune system to defend against disease, a newborn calf relies on the consumption of colostrum to build immunity. Disease-fighting immunoglobulins (commonly called IgG) in colostrum ...; Created on 21 August 2014
15. Feeding pasteurized waste milk is nutritious and economical: (Calves & Heifers); As margins become tighter for dairy producers, prioritizing the investment in raising healthy calves can pay large dividends down the road. Professional heifer growers and dairy producers need to pay ...; Created on 21 August 2014
16. When whole milk isn’t enough: (Calves & Heifers); Nearly half of all dairy calves raised in the U.S. are fed a diet of whole milk in the pre-weaned stage. The source of this nutrition is primarily hospital waste milk, salable milk or a combination of ...; Created on 21 August 2014
17. Establishing on-farm protocols: (Management); It happens. Good intentions with good directions fall apart with poor implementation or misunderstanding. Colostrum did not get fed. The calf hutch did not get cleaned. Feed was late getting delivered. ...; Created on 21 August 2014
18. 5 truths about raising Jerseys: (Calves & Heifers); Walking down a row of hutches or pens, they always stand out. First to greet you, full of curiosity, and of course, their brown coats. Jersey calves are gaining popularity across dairy and calf-raising ...; Created on 20 August 2014
19. Walking the line between calf care and out-of-pocket costs: (Calves & Heifers); Capital costs and quality calf care go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other; there will always be a financial impact following the building of a new calf barn or improvements to an existing ...; Created on 20 August 2014
20. Forgotten age: Are developing heifers reaching full potential?: (Calves & Heifers); Birth through 12 weeks old is a critical time in establishing the lifetime growth potential of a calf, and feeding strategies weeks 12 to 24 are essential to optimal rumen development. As a result, it ...; Created on 20 August 2014
21. Rumen-enhancement products can boost efficiency: (Feed & Nutrition); Among the most critical nutritional tools available to today’s modern dairies are those products that enhance rumen function and efficiency. These products, commonly referred to as rumen enhancers, increase ...; Created on 20 August 2014
22. Why cattle need vitamin D: (Feed & Nutrition); Vitamin D is typically recognized as being necessary for proper bone formation and maintaining calcium and phosphate in the body. Recent discoveries indicate that vitamin D also is required for the activation ...; Created on 20 August 2014
23. Nutrition and mastitis: More than just minerals and vitamins: (Feed & Nutrition); Mastitis is inflammation of the mammary gland usually caused by a bacterial infection. Poor nutrition does not cause mastitis, but poor nutrition can make it easier for bacteria to become established in ...; Created on 20 August 2014
24. Nutrition and immunity: Odd couple underlying animal health: (Feed & Nutrition); While doing some digging for an undergraduate nutrition course recently, I came across an interesting controversy from the early years of nutrition science. It seems that Louis Pasteur, the renowned scientist ...; Created on 20 August 2014
25. Reducing waste by rumen microbes: (Herd Health); The world inhabited by rumen microbes, though hidden from view, is fascinating. Dark and devoid of oxygen, the rumen may seem inhospitable to life. In reality, it is quite the opposite: Hundreds of trillions ...; Created on 20 August 2014
26. Research: Canola meal and high-forage diets go hand in hand: (Feed & Nutrition); Higher grain prices in recent years have encouraged dairy producers to consider increasing the amount of forage and byproduct ingredients in rations for lactating dairy cows. Because this differs from ...; Created on 20 August 2014
27. Feed efficiency’s implications for the environment: (Feed & Nutrition); In the previous two articles, feed efficiency (FE) has been defined, and its use as a stand-alone monitoring tool or in conjunction with income over feed costs has been examined. The other opportunity ...; Created on 20 August 2014
28. Fundamentals of uNDF and iNDF: (Feed & Nutrition); Throughout this article, NDF refers to aNDF, determined with use of amylase and sodium sulfite as described by Mertens and official AOAC methods of fiber analysis. For brevity of the acronyms, the “a” ...; Created on 20 August 2014
29. Colostrum-derived immunity against calf respiratory viruses: (Calves & Heifers); An important factor in calfhood health is the presence of maternal antibodies in calf serum during the critical first few weeks of life for protection from disease. One study shows that compared to maternal ...; Created on 20 August 2014
30. Nutritional grouping improves feed efficiency: (Feed & Nutrition); “We can improve feed efficiency by improving how we feed, breed and manage cows,” says Mike VandeHaar of the department of animal science at Michigan State University. VandeHaar was a presenter at the ...; Created on 20 August 2014
31. Can your dairy meet the gold standard for nutrient variability?: (Feed & Nutrition); On-farm variation is a hot topic. Forages, commodities or grains, TMR mixing and delivery, and cow level sorting are sources of variation that change the diet cows eat from that directed by a nutrition ...; Created on 20 August 2014
32. ‘Fields with a broader view’: (Feed & Nutrition); When is a pasture walk more than a pasture walk? When the farmers and ranchers in a discussion group help each other in unexpected ways. When a meeting about forages leads to decisions far larger than ...; Created on 19 August 2014
33. Do cows still need buffers?: (Feed & Nutrition); The inclusion of buffers in dairy rations is a well-researched and successful strategy. But buffers seem to have become a forgotten tool – or at the very least, one that’s taken for granted on many dairies ...; Created on 19 August 2014
34. Just dropping by ... Burn the boats III: (Yevet Tenney); This is the third article I have written comparing marriage to Hernán Cortés’ conquest of an impregnable Aztec city. His battle plan was unique: “burn the boats,” not giving himself or his army a path ...; Created on 19 August 2014
35. Mechanics Corner: Selecting the right tool for the job: (Barns & Equipment); What is the most important tool on the farm? A friend of mine answered that question at a local school career day by saying his pencil was his most important tool. A great answer in a time when agricultural ...; Created on 19 August 2014
36. The Milk House: Cow calling and small towns: (Ryan Dennis); Recently, I went to the alumni banquet of Canaseraga Central School, the high school I, my father and my grandfather attended. Currently, the district only has 250 students enrolled from kindergarten to ...; Created on 19 August 2014
37. HERd management: Get out of the barn and share your story: (Guest Blog); Promoting the dairy industry has always been important to me. I was a dairy princess at heart long before I ever put on a crown and sash. Even though those years as dairy royalty are long over, I still ...; Created on 19 August 2014
38. The Manure Spreader: Being diversified: (Tim Moffett); I was talking to my accountant the other day, and she said the cookie jar was almost empty. “Crumbs” in the bottom of the jar was what she should have said.Now, I never really had a plan for my “future ...; Created on 19 August 2014
39. Avoid dialing 911 with ‘Feeding Colostrum 101’: (Calves & Heifers); Every stage of an animal’s life matters in order for her to reach her full potential as a cow. Newborn calves rely on the farmer to assist them in building their immune system. As a calf’s caretaker, it ...; Created on 15 August 2014
40. On the Edge of Common Sense: The roto-tiller saga: (Baxter Black); It all started because Jo wanted a small lawn behind the house. Tom encouraged her. Tom’s friend offered to lend them his heavy-duty, magnum, Humvee version of a tiller. Jo borrowed my Ram diesel to pick ...; Created on 15 August 2014
41. The View from Here: Seeing clearly as the fog lifts: (Guest Blog); The news out of Iraq is not good. There is much discussion today about the history of our U.S. government involvement in the Middle Eastern country.The discussion includes the military costs of lives and ...; Created on 15 August 2014