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Every once in a while we’ll see a poll question that will garner an above-average number of responses. Last issue’s question was one of those. Late in January, I received the following letter from Timothy Jenck, a dairy farmer in Tillamook, Oregon. Ti...
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Recent trends continue in the fluid market. Fluid sales are generally steady except where featured. The split between affidavit milk (produced without rBST) and nonaffidavit milk is causing problems for handlers trying to cover customer orders. A few flui...
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A recent NASS report shows the U.S. had a total of 9.2 million milk cows as of the first of the year, a 1 percent increase from 2007.The ratio of replacement heifers per 100 milk cows was 48.3, a 2 percent increase from January 2007. Replacement heifers e...
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California milk production is steady to higher on a week-to-week basis and remains at levels well above year ago levels. Recent wet conditions may have moderated growth, but the upward trend has not turned. Milk cows are cranking out milk, and supplies co...
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Editor’s note: The following are available market reports and futures data as of February 15, 2008.
Butter Butter production is strong across all regions. The impact of heavy supplies of milk and cream is creating situations where churns need to run on...
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WASHINGTON D.C.
Administration proposes changes to foreign farm worker programForeign farm workers who come to the United States legally could be paid less under changes to government regulations aimed at getting companies to stop hiring illegal immigr...
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Editor’s note: The following opinion was submitted by the author in response to “Ethanol production increases risk for dairy producers” which ran in Progressive Dairyman (Issue 1, pg. 10).
The article on ethanol production by W. Cris Lewis and Tyl...
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Editor’s note: The authors of “Ethanol production increases risk for dairy producers” which ran in Progressive Dairyman (Issue 1, pg. 10) were invited to respond to Geoff Cooper’s ethanol opinion (printed on opposite page) and “Is ethanol the so...
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Based on conversations that we’ve had with different groups in recent days, we understand that there is a lot of concern, based largely on erroneous reports, about where we stand with the Farm Bill. As a result of this, we thought it was important to ex...
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A spokesman for the ethanol lobby, Mr. Robert White, notes that corn prices are a function of a number of factors. By pointing out possible nonethanol contributors to higher corn prices, he wants to deflect attention away from the role of ethanol subsidie...
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Most of the cows in a typical dairy herd should be money makers, but too frequently there are a number of cows that should have been profitable that are culled early in lactation because they failed to make the transition from the dry period to milking su...
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In this [article] we look at the underlying purpose for which the business exists: its vision and mission. An important key to any successful journey is to start with the end in mind. This is true whether the journey is something like a carefully planned ...
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When prices for barn feed increase by 20 to 30 percent, there is a tendency to want to cut back on feed costs, but by doing so, we can eliminate some of the things that give us high milk production in the first place. We need to be judicious in using the ...
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In agriculture we are always working with tighter and tighter budgets. One place there seems to be excess money spent is on replacement heifers. When feeding high-quality crops, heifers often get too fat, and we try to limit their intakes of high-energy f...
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Although setting up disease protocols is extremely important, prevention management can be the best medicine with fresh cows. When fresh cows get sick, dairies start losing money. Veterinary service and treatment costs, lost milk production, increased cul...
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There were 778,000 hired workers on the U.S. farms and ranches during the week of January 6-12, 2008. Of these hired workers, 599,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining ...
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Fresh cows represent the greatest income potential for dairy operations. But fresh cows can be fragile cows. Just when they’re ramping for the run to hit peak milk production, they’re also at the greatest risk of getting sick or crashing. That’s why...
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Shortening the dry period to less than 60 days has been promoted during the past few years. The major consideration for doing so has been a few studies indicating that losses in milk or fat-corrected milk yield in the subsequent lactation may be minor if ...
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Can you imagine running a marathon without proper training? The 26-mile trek from start gate to finish line would be challenging without proper conditioning, diet and preparation. Now, think of the 305-day lactation dairy cow’s experience. They, much li...
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Hype and opposition from anti-animal agriculture groups and misleading marketers led a group of dairy producers to organize and launch a new grassroots organization. American Farmers for the Advancement and Conservation of Technology (AFACT) publicly anno...
Re: purebred guernseys
Posted on Saturday, 08 June 2013 by Ron.Hello! Brooke I am an old retired beef cattle rancher living in...
Re: Les Hansen on crossbreeding: Video footage from 2013 World Ag Expo
Posted on Thursday, 30 May 2013 by Howard Whitmore.Les, Excellant data and explanation. It was the toughest decision I...
Re: HERd management: Tackling the tough questions
Posted on Tuesday, 28 May 2013 by Alison T.I appreciate this sane and thoughtful information. I've got a...