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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 Dairy. 2021 Issue 2, 2021: January 19, 2021 Issue 1, 2021: January 1, 2021 2020 Issue 20, 2020: December 12, ...; Created on 07 December 2020
2. How many will attend World Dairy Expo in 2022?: (From the Editor); Sometimes it takes an anniversary to realize just how much times have changed. This year marks the 10th consecutive year I will have attended World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. As a trophy to ...; Created on 30 September 2015
3. Names in the News: Kinnard Farms, Kooistra Farms, Carl Schindler and Cottrell Homestead: (People in the News); Kinnard Farms Casco, Wisconsin WFRV-TV Channel 5 of Green Bay, Wisconsin, interviewed Lee Kinnard about his operation’s three-year battle with Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources. The Casco ...; Created on 30 September 2015
4. Industry Watch List: Negative feedback doesn’t deter farmer’s ‘mythbusting’ work: (Industry News); Indiana dairy farmer Joe Kelsay knew there would be some backlash from special-interest groups when he agreed to be featured in the dairy checkoff’s “mythbusting” project. Kelsay was part of “The Udder ...; Created on 30 September 2015
5. Idaho dairyman shares local, global viewpoint with reporters: (Event Coverage); Dairy owner John Brubaker of Knott-Run Dairy recently invited local reporters to learn more about his 350-cow operation in Buhl, Idaho. Brubaker is originally from Pennsylvania and farms with his two ...; Created on 30 September 2015
6. Finding root causes of employee problems: (Management); Think about how we handle non-personnel problems – a sick animal, a wilted crop or a high somatic cell count. Even though we are all well-trained to address these issues, we still often treat symptoms ...; Created on 30 September 2015
7. The measure of a dairy’s culture: (Management); Note: This is the second article in a series about dairy culture. All dairies have unique characteristics that support or detract from the operation’s productivity, efficiency and effectiveness. The ...; Created on 30 September 2015
8. What will people say about you at your funeral?: (Management); I once dealt with an 82-year-old man who drove into town – without a license – and changed his will just to prove he still mattered. Harold had asked his son to carry a sack of potatoes into the basement ...; Created on 30 September 2015
9. The case for employee engagement in agricultural businesses: (Management); Excellence today is not a guarantee of success tomorrow. Even superstars can burn out. How can you create a business that constantly adapts and flourishes? Now more than ever, successful businesses ...; Created on 30 September 2015
10. Dairy results suffer from impoverished managers: (Management); Editor’s note: This article is part of a series of articles to review the four most common management philosophies that dairy managers employ. The first article in the series appeared in the July 1 issue ...; Created on 30 September 2015
11. Options: From the classroom to the calendar: (Management); Einstein was quoted as saying “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” We have spent several articles discussing the “how-to’s” and “what-for’s” of options as it pertains ...; Created on 30 September 2015
12. What should I do? Meetings and training: (Management); “We have a team meeting on our dairy every two weeks. One of the topics we discuss during the meeting is things that need improvement. We review our protocols or provide re-training about important aspects ...; Created on 30 September 2015
13. Six steps to QuickBooks: Managing dairy finances: (Management); “When it comes to money, ignorance is not bliss. What you don’t know can hurt you.” —Sandra S. Simmons, from the book Unleash Your Cash Flow Mojo: The Business Owner’s Guide to Predicting, Planning and ...; Created on 30 September 2015
14. Dairies, environmentalists fight over land, air and water: (Industry News); Legal battles between environmental groups and the dairy industry over land, air and water have been dragging on for the past several years. Complex regulations – and court interpretations of those regulations ...; Created on 30 September 2015
15. Dairy operations impacted by Obamacare, falling grain prices: (Management); For dairy farmers, it is more important than ever before to project and control taxable income. Publicly traded companies like General Electric and Apple have always known the importance of projecting ...; Created on 30 September 2015
16. Tips for meaningful changes in dairy safety: (Management); “Often what looks like resistance is a lack of clarity.” This is one of the observations in the book Switch: How to change things when change is hard, written by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Walt Cooley, ...; Created on 30 September 2015
17. Wisconsin high school sophomore starts her own dairy: (People); What makes Lauren Raskovic unique is: First, she is a 15-year-old girl starting her own dairy farm. Second, she is the daughter of a race car mechanic with no farming background. “I grew up in New ...; Created on 30 September 2015
18. Use post-season evaluation to assess the harvest: (Management); As summer slides into the cool days of autumn, the last tire has been placed on our bunkers and piles, and machinery is cleaned up and put away, it may be tempting to think all that remains of the 2015 ...; Created on 30 September 2015
19. Australian intern sees U.S. Holstein genetics up-close: (People); Promoting the U.S. dairy industry outside of the U.S. is usually left to industry exporters. But for Butlerview Dairy Farm in Chebanse, Illinois, hiring an Australian intern offered the opportunity of ...; Created on 30 September 2015
20. Bur-Wall Holsteins: Popular stop for World Dairy Expo visitors: (Event Coverage); When World Dairy Expo travelers make plans for things to see and do around Madison, Wisconsin, there’s a good chance a visit to Bur-Wall Holsteins is on their list. Located just 15 minutes from the ...; Created on 30 September 2015
21. National Dairy Shrine to honor 2015 award winners at WDE: (Organizations); National Dairy Shrine (NDS) is pleased to announce the winners of the Guest of Honor, Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder, Pioneer, Progressive Dairy Manager and Graduate Dairy Production awards for this ...; Created on 30 September 2015
22. The legacies of Apple, Snickerdoodle and Veronica: (Event Coverage); In the realm of dairy cattle showing, there’s no bigger stage than the colored shavings at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. Hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of cattle converge on the city each ...; Created on 30 September 2015
23. Palmyra Farm transmits a show-winning tradition: (People); Just a stone’s throw from the iconic battlefields of Gettysburg and Antietam, Palmyra Farm has a colorful history of its own – full of blue ribbons and purple banners. In 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 ...; Created on 30 September 2015
24. New Hire Melissa VanderSanden, World Dairy Expo: (People in the News); Melissa VanderSanden Program Assistant World Dairy Expo Madison, Wisconsin Agricultural background I grew up in Oregon, Wisconsin, surrounded by dairy farms. I showed Brown Swiss dairy cattle and ...; Created on 30 September 2015
25. New Hire Kristin Olson, World Dairy Expo: (People in the News); Kristin Olson Media Relations Manager World Dairy Expo Madison, Wisconsin Agricultural background Agriculture has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up with my family’s ...; Created on 30 September 2015
26. World Dairy Expo new products: Calf health and nutrition: (Products & Services); World Dairy Expo’s award-winning trade show is a platform for launching new products and cutting-edge technologies for the dairy industry. With 835 commercial exhibitors, businesses from across the ...; Created on 30 September 2015
27. World Dairy Expo new products: Dairy facilities (buildings, flooring, ventilation): (Products & Services); IEC introduces new ag cover type Industrial and Environmental Concepts Inc. (IEC) is a designer and installer of agricultural cover systems. The company specializes in biogas collection, odor control and ...; Created on 30 September 2015
28. World Dairy Expo new products: Feed and nutrition: (Products & Services); Agri-King introduces Dairy Tri-Max and Dairy VT-Max Agri-King has recently introduced two new VTM products to their key dairy program: Dairy Tri-Max and Dairy VT-Max. Both products contain a proprietary ...; Created on 30 September 2015
29. World Dairy Expo new products: Equipment: (Products & Services); Patz to display new products at World Dairy Expo Patz Corporation will display its 1800N Series vertical mixers. These 87-inch-wide (2.2 meters), low-profile mixers are designed to accommodate facilities ...; Created on 30 September 2015
30. World Dairy Expo new products: Manure handling: (Products & Services); McLanahan introduces new sand lane clean-up system Producers who utilize sand lanes often spend time and energy turning and moving sand piles to reduce drying times and sand inventory. McLanahan’s ...; Created on 30 September 2015
31. World Dairy Expo new products: Milking (equipment, sanitation, quality): (Products & Services); New milking system from Tulsan The new Tulsan milking system offers you a new level on automation and comfort, with its automated wash system and direct-to-cooling-tank milk delivery. It ensures efficiency, ...; Created on 29 September 2015
32. World Dairy Expo new products: Consulting and management: (Products & Services); Praedium to offer solutions for dairy industry’s social issues Praedium announces a new program for dairy producers: Premier Dairy Solutions. Premier Dairy Solutions provides dairy operations with ...; Created on 29 September 2015
33. World Dairy Expo new products: Herd health: (Products & Services); Nova Vet introduces handheld blood ketone analyzer Nova Vet is a handheld field analyzer used for fast, 10-second blood ketone (beta-hydroxybutyrate) monitoring for clinical ketosis in early lactation ...; Created on 29 September 2015
34. Link cows, people and equipment for milking efficiency: (Management); Monitoring the milking center for parlor efficiency, milk quality, procedural drift and milking equipment performance is a multifaceted approach that involves analyzing the cow, people and equipment. With ...; Created on 29 September 2015
35. Circle or straight: Is a rotary parlor right for you?: (Barns & Equipment); Rotary parlors are becoming firmly entrenched in the industry and may be the optimal choice for large dairies that milk more than 2,000 cows. However, should you consider one for your future, regardless ...; Created on 29 September 2015
36. Thinking of expanding your dairy? Keep these things in mind: (Barns & Equipment); Planning for expansion can feel overwhelming. Producers have to think through many decision points, including whether to retrofit or build new, what size to grow to and which milking equipment to choose. ...; Created on 29 September 2015
37. Lean concept used to increase efficiency on dairies: (Management); By implementing lean principles on their 1,000-cow dairy, Hemdale Farms in Seneca Castle, New York, saw an increase in milk per man per hour from 500 pounds to nearly 800 pounds in the past seven years. ...; Created on 29 September 2015
38. Focus on the three M’s to produce quality milk with robots: (Barns & Equipment); Robotic milking machines have been in the U.S. for about a decade. When they were first introduced, people wondered: Do they actually work? Are they just a fad? Are they cost-effective? Are they just for ...; Created on 29 September 2015
39. Conductivity report catches mastitis cases earlier: (Herd Health); When Kiefland Holsteins in Utica, Minnesota, installed an automatic milking system in 2011, not only did the farm benefit from the reduced labor requirements – but also the steady supply of data generated ...; Created on 29 September 2015
40. Parlor technology improves performance at Daybreak Dairy: (People); From udder health to employee management, the technologies in Daybreak Dairy’s milking parlor are making a difference. The 250-cow herd at the dairy located in Zeeland, Michigan, takes monitoring to ...; Created on 29 September 2015
41. Parlor upgrade allows Sunnyside Farms to increase efficiency: (People); At Sunnyside Farms in Scipio Center, New York, the focus has always been on growing the herd size but doing so in a cost-efficient way. The dairy was established in 1939. By the late ’60s, the herd ...; Created on 29 September 2015
42. Cooperative reps share strategies for milk quality success: (Organizations); Three cooperative representatives participated in a milk quality panel discussion at the 2015 National Mastitis Council Regional Meeting this past July in Syracuse, New York. The panel was led by Dr. ...; Created on 29 September 2015
43. Implementing on-farm culture on your operation: (Management); Let’s agree that not all mastitis infections are created equal. Some infections are more severe than others and actually make the cow sick, while others result in only a few flakes or clots in the milk ...; Created on 29 September 2015
44. Synergetic effect of B vitamins on lactating cow performance: (Feed & Nutrition); B vitamin supplementation is often not considered in many dairy cow diet formulations. Despite the importance of these nutrients in animal metabolism, it is still believed that their supplementation to ...; Created on 29 September 2015
45. Alfalfa-grass nutritional considerations: Pros and cons: (Feed & Nutrition); We were at a meeting the other day where we overheard producers discussing the high cost of straw. We thought they were using straw for bedding, but many nutritionists are now suggesting adding 2 to 4 ...; Created on 29 September 2015
46. More yield per acre: Shift in perspective for dairy production: (Feed & Nutrition); Over the last 50 years, we have seen a decline in the nutrient content of our crops; today’s crops have less protein, calcium, vitamins and minerals compared to those of our grandparents. The same ...; Created on 29 September 2015
47. The anti-nutrition factor in dairy cattle: (Feed & Nutrition); This subject may sound ludicrous, yet there is a real and present meaning to the attention-grabbing phrase. The term “anti-nutrition” has been used periodically within animal nutrition conversation but ...; Created on 29 September 2015
48. Amino acid deficiencies and knowing when to supplement: (Feed & Nutrition); As the cost to feed cows continues to climb, and as environmental concerns continue to mount over nutrient pollution coming from dairy farms, much more attention is being directed toward researching and ...; Created on 29 September 2015
49. Insights on transition nutrition and milk production: (Feed & Nutrition); Transition management directly impacts milk production and the bottom line. Poor transition periods can result in the loss of 10 to 20 pounds of peak milk per cow per day. That’s significant – because ...; Created on 29 September 2015
50. Dry matter tips for feeders and dairy producers: (Feed & Nutrition); Dry matter (DM) is what remains when water (moisture) is removed from a feed. In the example corn silage report (Table 1), you’ll see DM is listed at 35.9 percent. (For simplicity, we’ll round to 36 percent ...; Created on 29 September 2015
51. Should we be adding trace minerals to the TMR?: (Feed & Nutrition); Rumen micro-organisms require trace minerals for proper function. However, most research has shown micro-organism requirements for copper, manganese and zinc are minor and much lower than those typically ...; Created on 29 September 2015
52. Breeding the best: Ferme Blondin: (Organizations); Ferme Blondin is not only known for walking into the ring with some of the best cows in the world; they are also recognized for breeding them. The high-caliber Holsteins and Red and Whites from Ferme ...; Created on 29 September 2015
53. Stabilizing rumen microbial populations during feed changes: (Feed & Nutrition); Many dairy production operations have achieved very high performance levels, and change of any type can have a significant impact on milk production. Dairy cows perform at their highest levels of production ...; Created on 28 September 2015
54. Trace minerals and the cow’s immune system: (Feed & Nutrition); To optimize the growth and production of animals, we have long realized good nutrition is key. Trace mineral supplementation has been simplified to strictly meeting the parts-per-million requirements set ...; Created on 28 September 2015
55. Nutrition foundation: Appreciating and understanding ruminants: (Feed & Nutrition); Are we lucky or what? We raise dairy cattle. Usually, we are very busy with daily chores and don’t have much time to contemplate the larger world of mammalian physiology, but we might stop for a moment ...; Created on 28 September 2015
56. Do cows respond in hours, days or years to AA ration balancing?: (Feed & Nutrition); The incorporation of commercial rumen-protected amino acids in dairy diets has been growing since the early 2000s. The three main reasons for that include the release of the 2001 NRC’s Nutrition Requirements ...; Created on 28 September 2015
57. Feeding genetically modified corn silage to dairy cattle: (Feed & Nutrition); High-quality corn silage contributes greatly to supplying the energy, starch and forage neutral detergent fiber needs of high-producing dairy cows, reducing purchased feed costs from expensive grain and ...; Created on 28 September 2015
58. Just dropping by ... Politics vs. the truth: (Yevet Tenney); Politics is the art of telling people what they want to hear. Truth is telling it like it was, is and eventually will become ... no hazing, hawing or beating around the bush. No excuses. No bluffing. ...; Created on 25 September 2015
59. Co-digestion considerations for anaerobic digestion systems: (Manure); One option often considered for dairy farmers currently operating an anaerobic digestion system is the co-digestion of off-farm substrates. Although accepting high-strength substrates from off-farm generators ...; Created on 25 September 2015
60. HERd management: To get to World Dairy Expo, you have to earn it: (Guest Blog); It probably took me a lot longer than others to realize what I was missing. The words “World Dairy Expo,” “Madison” and “colored shavings” were relatively lost on me for the first half of my years in the ...; Created on 25 September 2015
61. The language of nutrition: RFC (Refined functional carbohydrate): (Feed & Nutrition); In layman’s terms, what does RFC mean? Refined functional carbohydrates (RFCs) are the components harvested from yeast cells (S. cerevisiae) using specific enzymes during the manufacturing process. ...; Created on 25 September 2015
62. The Milk House: Run Bucky Run: (Ryan Dennis); This summer, people in New York state had something to talk about other than the wet weather. Convicted killers David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility near the Adirondack ...; Created on 25 September 2015
63. The Manure Spreader: The gambler: (Tim Moffett); We all know farming is a gamble. We roll the dice every day. We try to count cards and figure the odds on seed prices to butterfat, or fuel prices to pork bellies, and everything in between. And we ...; Created on 25 September 2015
64. And there’s more …: (Event Coverage); In addition to the trade show, cattle shows and seminars, here are a couple of other activities not to miss at World Dairy Expo. Alltech Roadshow examines mycotoxin impact at World Dairy Expo Join ...; Created on 24 September 2015
65. On the Edge of Common Sense: Who would like RFDtv off the air?: (Baxter Black); Who would like RFDtv off the air? Or U.S. Farm Report? Who would like farm bureaus shut down, along with the National Cattlemen’s Association, the Pork Producers, the Egg Council, the Northern Ag Network, ...; Created on 24 September 2015
66. Where there is livestock, there is occasionally deadstock: (Management); Managing livestock mortality, or deadstock, can be challenging. First, there is the loss of the animal, which is an economic loss, and second, it is important that disposal be as efficient and effective ...; Created on 08 September 2015
67. Mechanics Corner: Of grease worms and dipsticks – protecting equipment through employee education: (Barns & Equipment); “If they positioned the dipstick under a cow’s tail on a loader, then maybe the herdsman and his helpers would check the oil.” I asked a dairyman what his pet peeve was pertaining to mechanical things ...; Created on 01 September 2015
68. New Hire Michael Schmitt, Accelerated Genetics: (People in the News); Michael Schmitt Genetic Information Analyst Accelerated Genetics Reedsburg, Wisconsin What education are you bringing with you to this position? I am a recent graduate of the University of ...; Created on 13 August 2015
69. New Hire Kelby Stadt, All West/Select Sires: (People in the News); Kelby Stadt Member Services Representative All West/Select Sires Everson, Washington What education are you bringing with you to this position? I graduated from Lynden Christian High School ...; Created on 05 August 2015
70. New Hire Bill Sutliff, Mycogen Seeds: (People in the News); Bill Sutliff Dairy Nutritionist Mycogen Seeds Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania What education are you bringing with you to this position? My education in dairy nutrition has been earned in the ...; Created on 28 July 2015
71. New Hire Andrea Pagenkopf, Accelerated Genetics: (People in the News); Andrea Pagenkopf Regional Program Specialist Accelerated Genetics Fremont, Wisconsin What education are you bringing with you to this position? I graduated from the University of Wisconsin – ...; Created on 07 July 2015
72. Mining for gold in your silage: (Feed & Nutrition); Much of the western U.S. is dotted with old gold mining sites. While some of the mines followed veins, much of the gold was actually obtained through placer mining – the process whereby stream-bed gravel ...; Created on 30 January 2015
73. Microbial farming: Increase dry matter intake and performance with probiotics: (Calves & Heifers); Over the years that I have worked with farmers on their dairy cow, calf and heifer diets, I have come to realize that I was not feeding the cow as much as I was feeding the microbial population in the ...; Created on 14 November 2014