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Over the years I have heard story after story of accidents related to calving season. I have researched the subject with a couple of guys at the sale barn, a purebred breeder and a retired cow vet. I came up with this list of safe calving habits:
I have often written about Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans, or CNMPs. I do so again in this article by providing three comments, which address how we might make them better.
Why? I am assigned the task of reviewing CNMPs written under a USDA – NRCS contract; the review includes a thorough examination of the document coupled with a field site review.
In a first-of-its-kind global dairy summit, the Canadian Dairy XPO, held Feb. 6-7 in Stratford, Ontario, brought together dairy producers from five different countries to share their differences, similarities, challenges and opportunities.
What will it take for an industry like dairy to avoid going the way of the pork industry? In John Frey’s latest column, he reviews four basic functions of business management identified by the Harvard Business Review as critical to the future success of an individual dairy farm business, or any business for that matter.
Click here to read the full column at the Center for Dairy Excellence website.
“With today’s high costs, forage best management practices are required for dairymen,” Troy Brown with Cargill said at the Midwest Forage Symposium in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, earlier this year.
Brown went on to outline the cost, cause and cures for silage shrink.
“Cost of shrink today is very significant,” he said.
The author of this post, Raechel Kilgore Sattazahn, is a marketing officer with AgChoice Farm Credit and farms with her husband, Doug, and his family at Zahncroft Dairy in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania.
She blogs about ag issues at http://gobeyondthebarn.wordpress.com/
It’s an instantaneous reaction for those of us in agriculture. The minute someone says they are a farmer, we immediately begin questioning them about how many cows they have, how many acres they farm and all of the subsequent questions.
The author who brought us Black Swans (unexpected events with big consequences) is back, and he’s raising a very thought-provoking question every dairy producer should ask in this era of market volatility: Is your dairy “fragile” or “antifragile?”
The author is Nassim Nicholas Taleb, professor of risk engineering at New York University’s Polytechnic Institute. His new book, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, will make you think about how to strengthen your business to survive ups and downs.
From the devastation of the Dust Bowl in the ’30s to the historic droughts that parched much of the country last year, weather disasters have played a significant role in the story of American agriculture – as well as the nation’s economic security.
A Feb. 14 hearing of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry examined the toll weather disasters have taken on American agriculture – which employs 16 million Americans – and what steps can be taken to safeguard the economy from future catastrophes.
In the social media realm, Michele Payn-Knoper of Cause Matters Corp. is regarded as an expert of all things “agvocate.”
She has spent more than a decade as a professional speaker training farmers and ranchers on promoting the agricultural industry through tools like Facebook and Twitter and growing relationships with consumers.
In her new book, No More Food Fights!, which was released Feb. 14, 2013, Payn-Knoper could have written directly to foodies, educating them on the many aspects of the agriculture industry today.
Professional speaker and “agvocate” trainer Michele Payn-Knoper has written and released a book intended to bring many voices from across the food chain together for a civilized conversation about what we eat. No More Food Fights! is available for purchase by clicking here.
Progressive Dairyman Editor Emily Caldwell recently caught up with Payn-Knoper (MPK) about the book and her plans to continue the “gate to plate” discussion. Click here to read Caldwell's review of the book.
