A maker of livestock feed supplements says it will halt comparative advertising claims at the recommendation of the National Advertising Division (NAD). The division recommended that Novus International stop advertising the claims following a challenge by Micronutrients. Both challenger and advertiser produce copper trace mineral supplements that are mixed with livestock feed.

Robert Joyce Commercial Business Consultant Milwaukee, Wisconsin Stewart-Peterson

Three Purdue University agricultural economists agree that another extension of 2008 farm legislation is a distinct possibility following the U.S. House's defeat of the proposed farm bill. Chris Hurt, Otto Doering and Roman Keeney, who closely follow developments of farm legislation, question whether Republican leadership in the House will allow debate on the contents of the farm bill again anytime soon.

Grasshoppers are becoming a problem on some farmland in areas of the Lone Star State, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service expert. The hoppers are now winged and are moving into crops and orchards, said Allen Knutson, an entomologist at the extension service in Dallas.

Farmers enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) may request to hay certain acreage, according to information from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). The earliest date CRP acreages can be hayed in Aug. 2, says Brad Pfaff, executive director of the Wisconsin FSA. Managed grazing of acreage is also allowed under certain rules.

Corn crops are back on track in after late frosts in April and early May, according to an agronomist from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

This article is the first in a series of online exclusive columns from Lori Lennard, the founder of AgProvise Consulting. Check back monthly for dairy employee management advice, leadership training and farm/family business strategies. Do you ever feel you are the only one thinking on your team? The rest of the group is simply going through the motions without providing extra effort? I hear this complaint on farms all the time. I often get the question, “How can I get my team to care about the business and act like an owner?"