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A farm in North Smithfield has been named Rhode Island’s outstanding dairy farm.
The state Department of Environmental Management said that Wright’s Dairy Farm Inc. won the annual Rhode Island award. Ten family members run the fifth-generation farm, along with 50 full- and part-time employees.
Cathleen Williams, associate professor in the Louisiana State University AgCenter School of Animal Sciences, has been named winner of the Land O’Lakes/Purina LLC Teaching Award in Dairy Production.
The award is presented annually by the American Dairy Science Association to recognize outstanding teaching of undergraduate students in dairy science.
This issue we close out our poll about a contentious topic – legalizing retail raw milk sales nationwide. (Click here to learn more.) One reader recently sent me an interesting letter questioning whether I was qualified to speak on the issue because of my age. “You are probably too young to have tasted real milk,” he states. (Click here for the full letter.) Well, actually I have tasted “real” or raw milk – several times.
In a recent edition of El Lechero, I wrote an article for your herdsmen clarifying that following treatment protocols is not only a guideline, it is the law about treating sick cows on your dairy. I identified that when protocols are not followed, overuse (unnecessary expense), violative residues and illegal use of medications prescribed by your veterinarian are costly consequences. But to get to that point, you must write, train and monitor treatment protocol use by your herdsmen on your dairy.
Write treatment protocols
Whether an excuse or well-intentioned confidence in your herdsmens’ experience, too often I find no written treatment protocols on dairies that I visit. “He knows how to treat sick cows” or “My vet handles that” or “Those are just picky details” are not adequate explanations for lack of written treatment protocols.
Are you a “people” person? No, not that kind. I mean ... are you a person who focuses a lot of time and energy on finding good people and helping them succeed? Basically, are you a good talent scout?
In January, FOX began its 10th season of American Idol. Each week, the goal of the show is to find the nation’s next singing sensation. With the help of viewers across the country, a panel of industry insiders will use their eye for finding talent in order to sort through thousands of young, aspiring superstars.
The parent company of a Vermont cheese producer has agreed to scale back claims about whether its dairy farmers use an artificially produced hormone to help their cows produce more milk, Vermont's attorney general said Wednesday.
The Vermont Attorney General's office said that in 2009 and 2010 the Cabot Creamery Cooperative overstated claims that none of its farmers used the artificial hormone known as rBST. The attorney general's office said some of the products made by Cabot cannot be certified as free of rBST.
It’s a soggy day in late spring and four dairy producers from different parts of the U.S. check their positions in the trading simulator, then connect with each other via phone. As is typical, they begin the teleconference by discussing weather and crop progress – or frustrations – in their various locations. Then these dairy producers dive into something they feel even less control over than the weather – the markets.
Month after month since February, nine participants keep coming back to two trading peer groups. The groups are facilitated and coached by Mark Ludtke of Stewart-Peterson, and participants use a simulator from the University of Florida to experiment with trades.
Most dairy producers would agree that the adoption and use of technology increases operational efficiencies and, in return, lowers the cost of producing milk. Clear examples include the move from stanchion barns to freestall facilities and milking parlors in an effort to increase labor efficiency, the use of artificial insemination to facilitate greater genetic advancement within a herd, as well as the use of hormone therapy to get cows pregnant earlier in their lactation to reduce total days in milk, which allows for more lifetime milk production.
More recent technological advancements include rbST, synthetic feed additives and gender-sorted semen. While some dairy producers find these more recent technologies to be controversial and “bad for the industry,” I find them to be tremendous tools that help lower my cost of production, making my dairy business more profitable.
Minnesota dairy farms made a significant comeback in 2010 after a very challenging 2009. With 557 dairies participating in Farm Business Management (FBM) programs, Minnesota dairy operators are in a unique position to benchmark their operations against a large subset of the state’s dairy operations.
Participating farms complete a detailed annual financial analysis of their farm and each farm enterprise. Individual farm results are combined in the FINBIN database hosted by the Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota (www.finbin.umn.edu) and made available to the public in summary form. FBM reports are also available at www.fbm.mnscu.edu.
With milk prices higher than they have been since 2008, many producers are finding they have more money left over each month after paying operating expenses and normal principal and interest payments. Many have paid off or drastically reduced operating debts incurred in 2009. Taking advantage of their increased cash positions to evaluate various options which include paying down debt, these operators are generally prioritizing debt reduction as follows:
1. Accounts payable 2. Operating lines/feed lines 3. Intermediate-term cow lines/equipment loans 4. Long-term facility/real estate loans
