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My parents have a bad habit that I don’t condone: They watch “The Bachelorette” on ABC. In the reality show, either a man or woman spends the season narrowing down a group of potential partners in search of “love.” I call it a loss in the battle for cultural integrity. They call it entertaining.
Jeff needed a workin’ pen for his little herd of cows. He decided all he needed was some panels and a head gate. He rounded up some 16-foot panels of continuous fence, a metal head gate and two 8-foot posts.
The American Society of Animal Science and the American Dairy Science Association held their joint annual meeting from July 19 through July 24 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Numerous scientific papers on the topic of nutrition were presented and, while many were of interest to our readers, we chose to report on three. In two of these papers, researchers examined the role of dietary starch and its impact on milk production and animal health, and the other dealt with methane production.
In the recent past, distinct differences existed in the composition of diets fed to high-producing dairy cows in different parts of the U.S. and Canada. Forage availability often dictated how the rations were formulated.
Several factors dictated the main forages available, including weather and soil quality. The Northeast relied heavily on corn silage with some winter grass hay/silage; the Midwest, alfalfa silage with some corn silage and limited alfalfa hay; the West and Southwest, alfalfa hay and corn/sorghum silage.
100% USA label hopes to attract loyal consumers
“Made in China,” “Made in Brazil,” “Made in Vietnam” are all-too-common phrases found in the American household. From the sweatshirt in the dirty laundry to the orange juice in the fridge, many consumer goods are imported.
Dairy products, such as cheese ingredients and powdered milks, are being brought into the U.S. for further processing and sales. According to the USDA, last year nearly $1.6 million was spent on imported dairy products.
The dairy industry continues to change as the number of farms are decreasing and the number of cows per farm are increasing. Introducing new animals to a herd can increase the risk for a bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) persistently infected (PI) animal to enter the herd and negatively impact reproduction, health and performance.
Let’s say you’re in college, your tuition is paid, and you have $1,000 a month to use for living expenses (You wish, right?). What will you do with it? Well, let’s see – you have housing ($400); gas ($120); pizza, instant noodles and an occasional hot dog ($130); books, school supplies and parking fees ($300).
That leaves you $50 to spend on miscellaneous necessities (the dollar movie theater, breath freshener for your date), and that equals $1,000. Easy-peasy. It works.
When someone tells me they grew up on a dairy farm, I say, “You have paid your dues, my son.”
The offspring of a dairyman that follows in his father’s footsteps is as scarce as a second-generation Nobel Prize winner, bomb dismantler or president of North Korea. So it is with pleasure that I congratulate those dairymen who are havin’ a heyday this year.
