Skid steer and compact track loaders are the number one tool carriers in North America. I like to think of these compact machines as the “Swiss Army knives” of light utility equipment.

Highlights: President Trump has thrown his support behind a Senate bill to limit legal immigration. A proposed contract for ICE to lease jail space in Idaho’s Magic Valley raises area dairy fears. Find a summary of these and other immigration news here.

Cargill has reached an agreement to acquire the animal feed business of Richmond, Virginia, based Southern States Cooperative Inc., a move that will help the company better serve its customers in the eastern U.S. The transaction is expected to close within 90 days, subject to customary approvals. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and American Farm Bureau Insurance Services (AFBIS) have been working collaboratively with other partners to develop a new insurance product for dairy farmers. The proposal is for a Dairy-Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP) policy. Similar to crop revenue protection policies, Dairy-RP would protect against unexpected declines in milk prices, unexpected declines in milk production, or both. This policy would be in addition to margin-based insurance offerings currently available to dairy farmers.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and its insurance affiliate, the American Farm Bureau Insurance Services (AFBIS), are preparing a final proposal to create a new dairy income insurance policy. To get producer input, AFBF/AFBSIS is conducting an on-line survey, seeking dairy farmer opinions on the proposed revenue protection insurance products.

Dairy farmers have plenty of people knocking on their door with the promise to deliver incredible results: vets, feed advisers, barn designers, fertility experts, material suppliers and many more. But of these, which one of them can actually help you add lactations to your cows’ productive life?

The Dairy Business Association (DBA) of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit against the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Aug. 1, charging the agency with overreaching its legal authority on key regulations impacting the dairy industry.

We are now well over halfway through 2017. This also means we are several months into the new Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) and the new procedures and protocols that must be used when feeding approved antibiotics to dairy animals.

In the last few decades, there have been huge strides in alternative ways to make power. Trust me, if there is a cheaper way to do anything, a farmer will figure it out first.