Jim Dickrell

Jim Dickrell is the editor Dairy Herd Management and is based in Monticello, Minn. He has 27 years of publication experience, and also operated his family’s Wisconsin family dairy farm for three years following graduation from the University of Wisconsin—River Falls. He also holds a Masters Degree from Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn.

Latest Stories
New report shows the worldwide dairy industry’s contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is just 2.7%
The clock starts ticking on the EU somatic cell count limit on July 1.
In Florida, the old joke is that farmers measure corn silage yields in tons per acre and forage sorghum yields in board feet. But new, highly digestible brown midrib (BMR) varieties of forage sorghum change all that.
Dutch veterinarian Joep Driessen gives producers a pretty straightforward formula for correcting common cow management bottlenecks: •Look at cows closely to detect problems. •Think about what’s causing those problems. •Act to correct them.
After months of planning, Jerry Kozak, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), has finally started to detail his organization’s proposal to revitalize U.S. dairy policy for the 21st century.
The NMPF plan takes the leap: letting the market set prices, eliminating dairy price supports and make allowances, offering a limited safety net of margin insurance.
Artisan cheesemakers on the front lines with consumers.
“Is competition healthy enough to protect farmers, and if not, what do we do about it?”
Large dairy operations, those with 50 or more employees, will now be required to provide health insurance for their employees and possibly for their families as well.
Come August, dairy producers and calf raisers will no longer be able to buy milk replacers with Neomycin-Terramycin in the tried-and-true 2:1 ratio formulation.
From June 2005 through November 2009, Osterkamp Dairy achieved a milk quality bonus for 52 out of 53 months—a 98% success rate. Those results, says owner Mark Osterkamp, don’t happen without teamwork. In fact, getting milkers to buy in to the team concept is key to making everything work, he says.
As dairy price support levels become less and less relevant to cost-of-production levels, milk price volatility has brought cash flows from booming highs to crushing lows.
In late 2010 or early 2011, any dairy processor exporting to the European Union will need to certify that each farm that supplies milk for those exports is below 400,000 somatic cell count.
Global trade requirements directly affect U.S. dairies.
The second edition of “Party-Directed Mediation: Helping Others Resolve Differences” is now online and explains how to deal with conflicts among peers and with disputes between superiors and subordinates.