The African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” could easily be transposed to read, “It takes a village to run a dairy farm.”

“Embrace the science” resonated throughout the 2014 American Forage and Grassland Council (AFGC) annual conference in Memphis, Tennessee, as an unstated but apt theme. Click below to view a slideshow from the event.

The USDA's Jan. 1, 2014 inventory for cattle and calves from the National Agricultural Statistics Service shows the total count of cattle and calves dropped 2 percent, or 1.6 million head, below the 2013 inventory, according to reports issued Friday.  

When considering the effects of the 2014 farm bill, ranchers should keep their chaps on. It’s a rough ride through the gullies and draws of 959 pages. There are cacti, mesquite and sagebrush enough for everyone and will keep agricultural interests hagglin’ for another five years until the next mud-wrestle-in-the-feedlot comes around.

Eliminating grazing won't reduce the impact of climate change on rangeland, according to nearly 30 scientists in the western U.S. The researchers, who work for nine universities and the USDA, made this argument in a journal article in response to a debate over whether grazing on western public lands worsens ecological alterations caused by climate change.

Almost a year ago, we watched in amazement as Dodge Ram shocked the ag world with their “So God Made a Farmer” Super Bowl commercial. As many times as I’ve watched that commercial, I still get chills.

Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistance continues to be a topic of wide interest. This past November, the National Institute for Animal Agriculture held a symposium on “Bridging the Gap between Animal Health and Human Health,” the third in a series on antibiotics.