The secret to getting more cows pregnant in a timely manner could already be at your fingertips. In fact, it may be just a few key strokes away. Valuable data is already available for most dairies, and digging into it can unearth both sweet spots and trouble zones that affect reproduction. By targeting areas of opportunity and focusing on results, producers can enjoy reproductive success. Let’s take a look at how records can be used to achieve this.

In terms of total annual value to U.S. crop producers, hay remains third (behind corn and soybeans) despite three years of lower prices and declining dry hay acreage. What will 2018 bring?

Let’s face it, finding and retaining good employees is becoming a major hurdle on many dairy farms. The economy is picking up, which leads to more competition for employees.

With increased emphasis on early life feeding programs for replacement heifers, the need for more information regarding successful weaning management is clear. More and more dairy farmers are feeding double, and sometimes nearly triple, the milk feeding rates that had been recommended for decades prior.

In 2000 and 2004, Wright Place Farm in Clinton, Maine, decided to grow by buying neighboring farms. In 2012, Brian Wright challenged his brother Steve and uncle Ray, who co-own the 800-cow, 1,800-acre dairy with him, to increase production by improving the herd and facilities instead of buying another farm.

Digest Highlights: There’s no news on MPP-Dairy enrollment period yet. Maryland & Virginia co-op apologizes for reduced pay price. One-fourth of U.S. dairy herd is in ‘drought’ areas. Find a summary of this and other news here.

While the revelation Dean Foods would terminate dairy farmer milk marketing contracts in a number of states was another dark cloud, not all the news related to milk processing capacity was bad this week.

The challenge of finding and keeping affordable health insurance isn’t new for farm families. Cooperative Network, a trade association serving co-ops in Wisconsin and Minnesota, heard the groundswell of member concerns at the turn of the last century.

Tax codes on equipment trades just got trickier. Under old tax law, a farmer could trade in farm equipment and recognize no gain or loss on the trade. For example, assume a farmer has an old combine worth $200,000 and trades it in for a new combine worth $500,000. The $200,000 trade value is essentially ignored and the tax cost basis of the new combine is simply $300,000 (the net cash paid).

The March 12, 2018, issue of Progressive Dairyman features our annual regional snapshots of “the state of dairy” around the U.S. Expanded previews for individual regions are highlighted in this online series.