Last summer, the milking herd at MSU’s Kellogg Biological Station Pasture Dairy Research and Education Center (PDREC) moved into a new freestall barn, equipped with two robotic milkers. We collected data on the cows’ responses to being milked by the new system. The information allowed us to evaluate how well cows adjusted to being milked by robots.

Forages are the foundation for building diets for the dairy herd. The quality of these forages greatly impacts profitability and performance, especially of the milking herd. Because of limited land base, labor or personal preference, farmers may decide to purchase part or all of their herd’s forage needs. This article deals with considerations when purchasing hay, especially alfalfa or alfalfa/grass hay, for the milking herd.

“If some is good, then more is better” has been the accepted feeding practice for vitamin E in dairy cows, especially during the dry and early lactation periods. Only positive or “no effect” studies of high vitamin E supplementation have been reported in dairy cows.

Many producers have abandoned feeding multiple totally mixed rations (TMRs) to milking cows after they leave the fresh group (or after calving), despite great differences in nutrient requirements and animal physiology between cows in early and late lactation.

Manure nutrients, a valuable commodity in the past, are becoming an unwanted pollutant. Manure is a natural “byproduct” of milk and meat production from farm animals. In human history, this “byproduct” has always been regarded as a highly valuable source of nutrients and was being applied back to the soil where the nutrients to feed animals originally came from.

My hat is off to parents who have a job in town but insist on raising their kids in a “rural lifestyle.” Fifty or so thousand young people were at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis last year. I would bet at least 3/4 of them come from rural lifestyle families.

Reporting to you from Islamabad, Pakistan. In this, my second report from Pakistan, I report of a day in the field. I have four visits done today, all within Punjab province and near the capital city of Islamabad.

The primary objective of a job description is to help employees and supervisors reach a mutual understanding about important details of a job in order to avoid future problems. This article discusses the need for job descriptions, how to prepare them, and how to make use of them for more effective human resource management. In addition, some examples of job descriptions for positions in the milking center are included. Job descriptions should never be considered final; they should be open to changes and should be reviewed at least once per year by both employee and supervisor.

A Minnesota company will take over two dairies in Veblen, South Dakota. Riverview LLP will assume management immediately after a bankruptcy judge approved a purchase agreement late last week, according to the company and court documents. The two dairies, known as Veblen East and Veblen West, will be renamed Marshall Dairy.