At Ag Media Summit, held August 5-7 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Livestock Publications Council (LPC) awarded the Progressive Dairyman team with first-place honors in its annual contest for top non-association publication. This marks the second consecutive year the magazine has beaten out competition from other livestock and ag publications to win the award. “Ever since I came to Progressive Dairyman more than six years ago, we've had a fun ride," says Managing Editor Walt Cooley. "We're celebrating the two-peat, but we also continue to strive for to be worthy of a three-peat."

The dry weather of 2012 has left most livestock producers in the Midwest scrambling for more hay. First-cutting hay yields were down 20 to 40 percent in much of Michigan and with the dry weather intensifying, total hay yields for the year could be off by 50 percent or more. In order to feed ruminant animals such as beef cattle, sheep and others through the winter season many are looking for ways to stretch their feed resources.

ADM Alliance Nutrition, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland Company, announced today the appointment of two senior executives to fill the roles of retiring Alliance Nutrition president Terry Myers and Frank Huber, vice president, international.

Rebuilding the cow herd and selection of replacement heifers are just two of several topics that will be featured at the Brazos Valley Beef and Forage Expo scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Brazos County Expo Center in Bryan.

Texas ranchers considering restocking options should think profitability first and foremost before writing a check, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service economist.

Farmers across the country are always looking for ways to minimize crop input costs whether they grow corn, soybeans, small grains, alfalfa, clover or specialty crops due to the high costs of fertilizer, seed, fuel and land rental rates.

The entry deadline for the 29th Annual World Forage Analysis Superbowl and last chance to win more than $22,000 in cash prizes is just around the corner. Silage entries for standard and brown midrib corn silage categories must be received by Aug. 16. All other forage samples – including dairy hay, haylage, baleage, commercial hay and grass hay – must be submitted by Sept. 6. Call (715) 758-2178 or click here for rules, the entry form and further details of the contest.

Due to the economic and social situation that our industry faces and to our active participation with PeopleFirst, today we receive many comments and questions about the challenge of developing, maintaining and retaining a solid workforce. We know this is not easy to achieve, but it isn’t an impossible task either. The first step that we can take to pull together a solid workforce is to obtain commitment from the employees within our operation. In this article we would like to express and describe a series of answers to questions that we constantly hear regarding what employee engagement is and how it influences the success of the farm.