You know what to look for when choosing corn hybrids for grain – things like grain yield, standability, maturity and pest resistance – but what about for silage? What else might you look for with silage?

Andy Birch and his wife, Sarah, own Maple Grove Farm in Derby, Vermont. They milk 50 registered Holsteins, Jerseys and Brown Swiss, and farm 45 acres of corn and 70 acres of pasture.

“I just love the Christmas season,” says Kristen Phillips, the Progressive Publishing graphic designer behind the creation of this year’s Progressive Dairyman Christmas cover. “Growing up, we didn’t get toys or a lot of new things throughout the year, so Christmastime was where we got new toys. I was the child who was up at 4 a.m. on Christmas morning. I love the excitement.”

Snow, ice and blustery temperatures make for a long winter in western Canada. Gull Lake Farm Ltd., located in Lacombe, Alberta, deals with average daily digits in the low teens (12ºF to 14ºF) throughout the winter months.