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Though maternity pens can sometimes feel chaotic to manage, there are additional ways to help minimize stress and create a calmer calving environment for both cow and calf.
What does an incredible leader, filled with so much knowledge and wisdom, who has had his hand in the tremendous growth and advancement of an organization like Milk Source, teach employees?
Milk protected at the $9.50 level will receive indemnity payments of $761.56 for each one million pounds enrolled.
Nearly all manure management is subject to regulations. Managing these regulations isn’t simple, but this roadmap helps make it easier.
While the Smokehouse Creek Fire rapidly became the state’s largest in history, four other wildfires are burning in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle area. (Additional images contained in story.)
The Healthy School Milk Commitment is a pledge by 37 school milk processor to provide healthy, nutritious school milk options with no more than 10 grams of added sugar per 8 fluid ounce serving.
One thing adversity teaches us is how to persevere. Dig deeper. Plow harder. At least this is what dairy farmer, Todd Benedict, has learned when he faced two nightmare situations—a barn fire and losing his milk market.
While dairy operations with less than 500 cows make up 80% of the nation’s dairy farms, the majority of cows within the nation’s herd reside on farms with 1,000 animals or more.
Beef-on-dairy numbers in the U.S. will reach up to 5 million head – roughly 15% of the cattle harvested annually – as early as 2026. The sexed-and-beef model of production will play a prominent role in the process.
NBA superstars Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith learned how to hand milk a cow on live television thanks to a Madison, Georgia dairy farm, Big Sandy Creek Farm.
Select Milk Producers has recently entered a letter of intent to form a partnership with Westrock Coffee, a leading coffee, tea and extracts provider, to create a milk-based coffee product.
Since 2011, dairy cows evaluated using genetic testing has doubled every five years to exceed 1 million annually. That reduced sire generation interval to the point where genetic improvement is at the biological limit.
Happy heavenly birthday to my father, Bob. He would also have said that all of you, too, have found success, as you are part of the 2% club that is feeding the world.
Chris Szydel began working as a milker at Pagels Ponderosa nearly 30 years ago. Today, he’s the herd manager of both the Pagel Ponderosa and Hilltop Farm dairies and oversees three different parlors and 65 employees.
Travel the I-29 corridor and you’ll see an explosion of dairy cattle. As of January 2024, USDA announced that the total number of dairy cows in South Dakota totals 208,000, up 70.5% since 2019.
The dairy industry has fundamentally changed in the last 25 years and the current FMMO system is not supporting growth and prosperity across the dairy supply chain. Now is the time to allows USDA to figure this all out.
USDA has announced that the 2024 Dairy Margin Coverage sign-up will open Feb. 28 and run through April 29.
An ‘ah-ha’ moment when young leaders realize the power within themselves to advocate for the dairy industry often unfolds at the Holstein Foundation’s Young Dairy Leaders Institute (YDLI). This year was no exception.
Are leaders made or born? “Some people are more naturally disposed to being leaders, but it doesn’t mean they’re good at it. To be a really good leader, you’re made into one through intention and exposure,” she says.
For the seventh consecutive month, U.S. milk production dropped. Also following suit was a decline in cow numbers, the lowest total since November 2019.
It’s important the friends, family, and business professionals close to farmers are prepared and able to effectively communicate in a mental health crisis.
Sometimes a family business’s perks can be abused or expanded over time until it creates conflict.
Producers have embraced technology for their mature herd, and now more dairies and calf ranches are exploring how to use it to streamline management for the youngest members of their herd – calves and heifers.
Farmers are protesting across the European Union, saying they are facing rising costs and taxes, red tape, excessive environmental rules and competition from cheap food imports.
Anyone who works with cows is bound to have “favorite” and “least favorite” based on their dispositions. Those personality traits appear to influence behaviors that can affect their health, well-being, and productivity.
Higher prices for beef calves are incentivizing dairy producers to breed crossbred bull calves
Are you pulling your hair out because your milking parlor is constantly running behind schedule? This is one of the biggest frustrations and time and money drains for a lot of dairies.
All I can say is God bless American dairy farmers. You work hard despite the hardships that come your way. We need dairy farmers to continue to push forward to produce nutritious dairy products to feed the world.
In recent years, agricultural employers consistently emphasized talent acquisition, but there has been a noticeable shift towards prioritizing retention as the primary focus in 2024.
