Ensiling forages – usually cereal, grasses or legume crops – is a very practical and cost-effective way for dairy farms to preserve and store feeds. Even though the process of ensiling has been utilized for many centuries, and modern research abounds on the proper ways to ensile forages, it’s amazing how many dairy farmers carelessly or ignorantly wreck a crop of corn or haylage through an improper ensiling process.

Over the past decade, livestock and poultry farms across the United States have been under siege by animal rights groups who use a certain tactic – the shooting and release of undercover video – to advance their agenda of ending the consumption of meat, milk and eggs. In the early years, they restricted their activities to breaking into farms at night and shooting video in one visit. More recently, these groups have resorted to a modified approach – getting undercover workers hired at local farms, where they then work for extended periods of time, engaging with on-farm workers and shooting undercover video. While there has been much speculation about whether the animal abuse seen on much of the undercover footage is staged or is incited by the cameraman, the end result is still the same. And for animal agriculture, it perpetuates the challenge we face each day – ensuring our consumer believes in how we farm, in how we produce food and that we are firmly committed to responsible care of our animals.

Many people associate farming with fresh air and a healthy, robust environment in which to work and live. However, much of the air that farmers breathe is dirty and sometimes lethal. Farmer’s Lung and Organic Dust Toxicity Syndrome (ODTS) are names given to two farm occupational diseases caused by inhaling airborne mold spores. Mold spores are produced by microorganisms which grow in baled hay, stored grain or silage with a high moisture content (30 percent). They become active when temperatures reach 70°F in poorly ventilated areas. Farmers most often suffer from these diseases in winter and early spring because the molds have had time to develop in closed storage areas.

It was one of those surreal moments in a cowboy’s life that you’ll recall in vivid technicolor years later when you’re living in the senior center trying to balance your checkbook on the tv remote. Like the time you roped with Fred Whitfield, or got into vet school or wrote your first alimony check!

This is my final article from Iraq. My 16-month tour is over. I have traveled about 40 percent of my time here, reaching every province but one. I have worked with nearly two dozen USDA ag advisers in the field and several of them here in Baghdad.

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Horizon Organic announced four student recipients of 2010 Horizon Organic Producer Education (HOPE) program scholarships. Each recipient will receive $2,500 towards their education, encouraging them to enter the field of organic agriculture. Horizon Organic is the first and only national organic dairy brand to have a scholarship program designed to build the next generation of organic dairy leaders.

DeLaval announced it has hit the 30,000 sales mark for its swinging cow brush, a self-grooming device that keeps cows happier, healthier and more productive. “The swinging cow brush is very popular among dairy farmers thanks to its many customer benefits. Definitely a DeLaval success story,” DeLaval Vice President Business Area Aftermarket & Services Tim Nicolaï said.