I am visiting a young dairy farmer today. He has purchased the farm, the equipment and the herd from an older gentleman who now lives in a rest home. With an engineer colleague, we are spending the middle of the day talking with the young man about conservation planning. The dairyman and his wife have four children. The oldest is about 10, and the youngest is about 2. The two oldest have barn boots in the mud room and go to the barn to help their mother with the calves.

It’s nice to hear that my friends Chet and Dale are still holding up the reputation of the “mounted cowboy” in the land of Lincoln and John Deere. Due to a case of porphus ileades (Latin for poor facilities) at the local sale barn, two big bulls crashed the unloading chute and plowed into the parking lot.

The board of directors at Minnesota Milk Producers Association (MMPA) has finalized a professional services contract with Midwest Dairy Association (MDA).Under this new contract, MDA’s resources will be utilized to carry out specialized MMPA needs such as accounting and technology, and current staff will continue to fulfill Minnesota Milk priorities as part of the Midwest Dairy staff.

Hugh Van Hout of Select Sires Canada (SSC) was honored as the Select Mating Service (SMS) genetic consultant of the year in front of an audience of his peers at the company’s SMS Evaluator's Conference, May 4-7 in Michigan. Van Hout is the first international person to receive this honor.


Together, Zoetis and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) will once again award scholarships to bovine veterinary students across the country. Applications are now being accepted for the 2014 AABP Foundation – Zoetis Veterinary Student Scholarships.

Editor's Note: Read the first part of this story, What are zoonotic diseases? Where are the risks? While microorganisms able to cause disease can be found anywhere on the dairy, below are a few areas of the operation known to pose zoonotic risks to workers.

Editor's Note: Read the second part of this story, Preventing zoonotic disease on the dairy. Those working in close contact with dairy cattle may be exposed to a variety of microorganisms that can cause disease. Some of these microorganisms can affect both humans and non-human animal species. A disease that can be transmitted between humans and other animal species is called a zoonotic disease or zoonosis.

Have you wondered how the Margin Protection Program for Dairy Producers would have worked over the past 14 years? Dr. John Newton of the University of Illinois has shared a handy dashboard you can use to play with different coverage levels, production history and coverage percentage.