As the dairy and beef industries evolve, Alltech is continually exploring the latest issues and trends, while providing producers with a clear vision for a profitable and sustainable future.

A Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service soil fertility expert advised beef producers to get a soil test as residual nutrients from previous fertilizer applications may still be in reserve.

“We are still facing drought conditions as we did last year, and if producers applied fertilizer last year or this year, they didn’t grow much of a forage crop,” said Mark McFarland, AgriLife Extension soil fertility specialist, at the recent Beef and Forage Expo in Bryan, Texas. “As a result, there can be a substantial amount of that fertilizer remaining in the soil for next year.”

Coming this February to Stratford, Ontario, is the Canadian Dairy XPO (CDX), a dairy event exclusively for progressive dairy operators and their families.

DeLaval and Hugh Hunter, owner of Maple-Ain Farms, have partnered to donate six fully refurbished DeLaval DelPro MU480 milking units to the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus’ tie stall dairy teaching facility. “The students benefit tremendously from their hands-on experience working in our dairy barn, and this technology upgrade provided by DeLaval and Maple-Ain Farms will enhance their knowledge of caring for dairy cattle,” said Ken McEwan, interim director at Ridgetown Campus University of Guelph.

The new dairy research and teaching facility under construction at the University of Saskatchewan has been named the Rayner Dairy Research and Teaching Facility in honour of John G. Rayner and his dedication to agriculture in the province.

What do cell phones, iPods and heat detection have in common? The same technology that changes the screen on your iPod or Smart Phone when you move your phone from horizontal to vertical is the same technology helping to detect heat in dairy cattle. That technology is known as the accelerometer and it is the most recent electronic system to be marketed to dairy farmers for the purpose of monitoring physical activity with estrous behavior.

If you’ve spent the past few years watching your kids or grandkids typing away on Facebook and Twitter, and muttering how such antics are a waste of time, then you’re not alone. You’re also dead wrong. The days of ignoring social media skills in the ag industry are now gone. And if you insist on remaining ignorant to modern communication, it’s only time before you’ll be gone too. Marketing and message management have put power into consumers’ hands and with agriculture that war of words is being dictated by our critics.