Meeting Aug. 1, the Federal Reserve board voted to hold off on raising interest rates again. Recent reports from Federal Reserve district banks in major agricultural regions indicate interest rates on fixed- and variable-rate loans increased (Table 1), reaching levels last seen in 2010-12.

It is imperative for the success of a robotic milking operation that its cows consistently have healthy legs and hooves with minimal lameness. After all, they need to stand and move about the barn for things to work, regardless of the cow flow system in use.

National Brown Swiss ConventionJune 27-30, Coralville, Iowa

Getting cows bred in a timely manner and pregnant at first service is impacted by their ability to show a heat. If your cows’ environment isn’t conducive to expressing heats with physical indicators like mounting, chin resting and sniffing – it could impact your herd’s bottom line.

Editor’s Note: This column is submitted by Chuck Nicholson, an adjunct associate professor in the college of agriculture and life sciences at Cornell University and a former clinical associate professor of supply chain management at Penn State University. Nicholson is one of three economists who contributed to the 2017 “Study to Support Growth and Competitiveness of the Pennsylvania Dairy Industry,” commissioned by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the Center for Dairy Excellence.

I knew this conversation during milking was going to happen eventually, but when it did, I was not totally prepared. “I think Beth needs to go on the truck,” my husband, Sam, said during Tuesday morning milking. He was referring to Beth, who was the oldest cow in the barn and occupied stall number 45 for as long as I could remember.

With the VAS Platform now available in the U.S., there may be a few questions on how to access data. Two topics which have to do with accessing your data will be covered in this tip: how to access your herd’s dashboard and how to grant access to your herd data to others.

Most Progressive Cattleman readers do not graze on public land.

Nobody likes surprises. Neither the runt calf that looks like a baby deer at delivery nor the late-night calf pull is ideal. No one wants those issues. It’s stressful, time-consuming and can be very costly.

With regions across the country experiencing drought conditions for consecutive years, and high hay prices this past spring, many producers chose to integrate forage annuals into their crop rotations or plan to integrate cover crops this fall to expand their grazing season either into the fall or early spring months.