Search - Dairy Herd

Both the feed cost adjustor and trigger price are the highest ever calculated.

Only the individual dairy farmer – after much discussion with family members and input from lenders and other key advisers – can make the decision to exit.

South Dakota Extension’s iGrow program has created a free mobile app for livestock producers to use when comparing the cost and nutritional value of feed.

“Even the best performing financial result showed not enough revenue to cover variable costs. The lowest breakeven price was $23.41/cwt.” Robert Tigner, University of Nebraska Extension.

Here’s what the new procedures are, and how they can impact dairy operations.

August-planted oats can yield two to three tons of dry matter per acre, more than double that of other fall-seeded small grains or winter wheat.

This decision in Missouri affects an estimated 625,000 pounds of cheese consumption.

Oregon native Patrick Criteser will take helm of farmer-owned dairy cooperative.

Thunder clapped and rain fell just before Bionce, Sassy and the rest of Mark Argall’s prize-winning dairy herd went up for auction.Had the storm come a few weeks earlier, and if the drought had eased, it might have saved the cows -- some of which were named with a bit of poetic license (“You can spell names however you want,” he said) for pop-culture divas and celebrities.As it was, however, Argall’s pasture was so dry that his cattle had nothing to eat, and the farmer was losing $75 a day just trying to feed them.Five generations of his family have milked dairy cows in this secluded stretch of Missouri’s Ozark Mountains, but the inch or so of rain that fell on this recent Thursday was too little, too late. Argall -- a 54-year-old with a wiry, broomstick mustache -- had no choice but to sell nearly all of his cows at a livestock auction.

President Barack Obama, campaigning in Iowa Monday, announced $170 million in government meat purchases to help farmers struck by drought, helping to send hog prices to a one-week high.The purchase of as much as $100 million of pork, $50 million of chicken, and $10 million each of lamb and catfish come on top of $30 million in assistance announced last week. Farmers and ranchers are struggling with the worst combination of heat and dryness since the 1950s, the administration said.Obama said he also directed the Defense Department to speed up purchases and hold the meat for later use. The buying will help farmers, and the government will get a better price on products than if they were bought later, he said.