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When R&D Garfat Farms decided to try something new on the farm, they went with something really new. The farm was the first in North America to install a GEA Monobox automatic milking system.
Perhaps you recall the editorial from our January issue where I talked about choosing “one word” to live by in 2017, and perhaps you chose your own. My word for this year is “fearless” and, with the help of an 11-year-old, I am finding out just what it means for me.
Dairy farmer leaders of the national dairy checkoff learned a lot from watching the United Kingdom struggle to manage crisis communications in the aftermath of BSE and foot and mouth disease outbreaks in 2001.
A full room of farmers and agribusiness professionals gathered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Feb. 15, but unlike most meetings and conferences, they were not there to hear about milk price projections or the latest trends in transition cows.
Recall your feelings the last time you arrived at a meeting – conference, board of directors, lunch – at an unfamiliar location. What were your emotions? Did you know where to park? Did you know where to go? Did you know what to expect?
During the process of setting up our herd management software, I spend a lot of time in the pen with herdsmen learning their record-keeping systems. As a standard, we customize our program on the dairy’s computer and on the staff’s mobile devices to their procedures, specific to each dairy farm.
The generational makeup of society and the workforce is rapidly changing. The baby boomer generation is comprised of about 78 million people born between 1946 and 1964. This generation is six years into the retirement age and will continue to retire for about the next 15 years or so.
Changing seasons and challenging seasonal extremes (cold, heat and humidity) add extra challenges for a young calf, and the caregiver’s management must be dynamic in order to provide optimal care.
As I travel from farm to farm, I often notice that a dairy farm manager or owner’s description of their colostrum and newborn protocols is different than what I hear when I enter the maternity barn.
