Have you seen those quizzes that are supposed to prepare you for parenthood? The idea is to get people thinking about how their lives will change once they have a child. These quizzes make me laugh because there really isn’t anything that can prepare you for it.

Automated milking is part of the artificial intelligence revolution. There are, however, many myths surrounding the fundamentals of robotic dairies that may present unnecessary roadblocks to those considering the switch.

Welcome to the second of three episodes of our coverage of NCBA 2024. In this episode, Tyrell Marchant visits with Jeff Heldt, beef technical lead with Selko USA, discussing if your inputs are doing what you think they are when it comes to nutrition and feed expenses.

Cows that arrive on the farm with a high price tag have a tendency to be crowned as queens before they prove themselves in the system. Hopefully, they are worth that special treatment and they pay for themselves quickly, but it takes time to find out.

Feed costs comprise 60% to 80% of the typical farm budget. If we can reduce those costs by 20% or even 10%, it will happily lower our break-even price. Read more about some grazing strategies to lessen the need for stored feed.

“No doubt, we’re going to be strong and growing for the foreseeable future,” says IDA CEO Rick Naerebout “It won’t be at the aggressive pace of the past because of processing capacity and having enough water to grow silage and hay long term.