When dairy’s plans were upended early in 2020 due to COVID-19, the dairy promotion checkoff seized the opportunity to lead and execute a refocused marketing plan still aimed at building sales and trust for dairy [Read More …]
Feed and nutrition management have influential impacts on the health of your herd. Diet consistency can play a large role in whether a farm is profitable, or even if a cow is productive and healthy. [Read More …]
If you would look back on headlines about dairy from a year ago, you would read that 2020 was expected to be an average or maybe even better than average year, with milk prices and [Read More …]
DairyBusiness has been in the forefront of extending some of the groundbreaking findings regarding the use of canola meal in dairy rations, with articles published November 2, 2019 and July 17, 2020. On March 16, [Read More …]
This is a question I recently asked a new client of mine. Please allow me to explain my thought process. During our initial discussions and analysis, we had discovered several areas of his operation that [Read More …]
This post will show how 2020 YTD is compared to 2018 and 2019 for the dairy industry. Although not all data is in for 2020, there is enough available data to show how 2020 was [Read More …]
At this writing in Mid-December 2020, community spread of COVID-19 is gaining momentum in rural areas of New York. As employers, farmers have certain responsibilities when one of their workforce tests positive for COVID-19. Because farmworkers [Read More …]
One of the most difficult things farm managers have to master is coaching employees. Coaching enables employers to optimize the performance they desire. Once mastered you will see employees that understand goals and expectations more [Read More …]
Today’s dairy cows produce four times more milk than cows did a century ago.1 With this dramatic increase in production comes a greater demand for calcium, especially for colostrum and milk directly after calving. To [Read More …]
Introduction Compost bedded pack barns have become more prevalent in the last few years. This barn style started in the 1980’s in Virginia1 , and the idea is to improve cow comfort and longevity2 . [Read More …]
Illinois Soybean Association, Dalex reduce time required to identify soybean feed value at the variety level from three weeks to about two hours When the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) checkoff-funded High Yield PLUS Quality (HY+Q) [Read More …]
Today, people are more concerned than ever about their health and well-being. The global COVID-19 pandemic has created a sense of anxiety and brought to light the alarming disparities that exist in the U.S. healthcare [Read More …]
Feed represents the single largest expense on most dairy farms, and even small improvements can have important financial, environmental, and land use implications. We have made tremendous and well-documented gains in the efficiency of milk [Read More …]
Amanda Freund shows “Mr. Beast” robotic milkers in action The Wi-Fi connection in our barn has worked flawlessly this year. I’ve done several virtual field trips for classrooms that went off without a hitch. But [Read More …]
John Ellsworth Hopefully, I caught your attention with this question. Please allow me to explain. Read on and see 3.a. below. Cal Newport in his fantastic book Deep Work defines “Deep Work” as: “…the ability [Read More …]
Retail sales of dairy products were a little disappointing in October. Sales were up from last year for all of the major dairy products, but the pace of growth slowed between September and October. Natural [Read More …]
Under the current federal milk pricing system, Class I milk price (i.e., fluid sales) is treated as a product of Class III and Class IV prices. Whereas Class III and Class IV milk are traded [Read More …]
Over 120 years ago, a family that milked cows by hand morning and night, carried calves with their bare arms, and grazed their cattle on lush, green pastures proved to be sustainable, providing for their [Read More …]
After the introduction of the award-winning product ALUS Nutrition, Cainthus now releases its second product for this year: ALUS Behavior. Large dairies now have access to valuable insights on cow behavior and cow comfort, pivotal [Read More …]
Negative Producer Price Differentials (PPDs) are killing producer income. What is a PPD and what is its purpose? This post will examine why PPDs are negative and what it will take to make them positive. Some examples [Read More …]
“There is no one single area that determines whether a farm will have a competitive cost of production. It always comes back to the big picture and not getting lost in the details.” Production perspective: [Read More …]
Outstanding farm management always takes the spotlight, and the changes and challenges faced in 2020 can’t deter such attention to detail and excellence in agricultural production. Since 1947, the New England Green Pastures Award program [Read More …]
How To Measure Your Farm Business Culture Why use an employee survey to measure culture? Sound employment practices geared toward attracting, training, retaining, and rewarding employees must reflect a clear understanding of employee views and [Read More …]
Protecting your investment in your heifer herd has never been more important. We tend to put a lot of emphasis on genetic progress with our breeding programs but sometimes fail to partner that with a [Read More …]
According to the USDA, Americans spend less on food as a percent of their incomes than anyone else in the world. This may seem like a good deal, especially for people who struggle to make [Read More …]
On Friday, November 20, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Board of Directors approved changes to Dairy Revenue Protection that are very important for dairy producers in California, Texas, and Illinois. The forecast model, used to project [Read More …]
Water availability is a big deal to a dairy. Without an accessible and relatively clean water supply, dairy farming is not possible. Much of California enjoys a Mediterranean-style climate, where precipitation is not a year [Read More …]
Each dairy farmer has their own philosophy around the best way to raise calves. Every farm is different, and what works best on one farm may not work on another. Regardless of system, there are [Read More …]
Fluid milk went decades without major product and packaging investment while the broader competitive beverage universe innovated at a dramatic trajectory in categories from coffee to alternative beverages to water. So, five years ago, Dairy [Read More …]
This project was conducted as part of the PRO-DAIRY Activity Analysis Project and was supported by PRO-DAIRY As the dairy industry becomes more competitive and farms increase in size, economic performance of the dairy replacement [Read More …]
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