We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
This should be easy. “Just tell me what to plant for summer forage.” Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Each type of summer annual grass has characteristics that make it most suitable for various uses – pasture, hay or silage.
Since they aren’t making money in the milking string, dry cows can be overlooked on a dairy farm. Yet good dry cow care leads to better performance after they calve.
An 1,100-cow dairy in southern California became the first-ever operation in the world known to produce no-sulfur renewable diesel products from manure on a livestock facility in late April.
The milestone is the culmination of three years of collaboration between Scott Brothers Dairy in San Jacinto, California, and Ag Waste Solutions (AWS), a privately held company that designed the farm’s manure processing system.
The second U.S. Precision Dairy Conference and Expo will be held at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minnesota, June 24-25. An excellent program that includes diverse precision dairy topics awaits.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on May 8 that the USDA is making $30 million available to farmers, ranchers and food entrepreneurs to develop new product lines.
As our weather continually becomes warmer, insects that have the potential to take profit out of forages will appear. In the southeastern U.S., the three forage insects that tend to get the most attention are the fall armyworm, grasshopper and bermudagrass stem maggot.
Dr. Andres Contreras of Michigan State’s Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences believes there’s an important management area of the dairy being overlooked. He presented the idea of building a transition cow management team at the 2015 National Mastitis Council Annual Meeting, held in Memphis, Tennessee, earlier this year.
In LaPorte, Indiana, the Minichs operate a 1,000-cow dairy at two locations – a transition facility with dry cows, fresh cows and cull cows at the family farm, and another milking and breeding facility at the dairy they purchased in 2009, which is approximately 15 minutes away. Check out more of their dairy in the slideshow below.
Luke Minich, a fourth-generation dairy farmer from LaPorte, Indiana, didn’t always plan to return to the family farm. His family sold their dairy cattle, and after graduating from Purdue University, Minich worked as a grain merchandiser and futures broker in Indianapolis.
