Maurie and Rita Young, owners of Emerald Spring Dairy in Plainview, Minnesota, saw an opportunity in November 2005 to expand their 500-cow operation. Heijwood Dairy, a neighboring farm located directly across the highway from their farm, went up for sale. Although the Youngs believed purchasing the farm would be advantageous, they also knew it would tighten their equity position and decided it was more of a “squeeze” than they were comfortable with taking.

A necessary evil in the business world is change. Capitalism stretches every business to adapt to changes in the marketplace or be replaced by a business that will change. Each of us knows the phrase “no pain, no gain.” The business of dairying is not immune to these principles. For good or bad, the lifestyle that dairying has availed us for many years is being pushed by the marketplace to become more efficient. Don’t get me wrong, I know that innovation and husbandry will always be a part of the dairy industry, but efficiency and adaptability to changing markets are two principles that cannot be overlooked.

Even at 11 years old, Jouni Pitkaranta of Seinajoki, Finland, knew he wanted to be involved with agricultural architecture. “I did my first cow barn drawing, and I could say that even from that moment, I thought this is my future,” he recalls.

Think about the cows. That’s some foundational advice Ted and Don Gribble of Five-G Consulting begin with when they counsel dairymen about expanding their facilities.

Saga of the E-Harmony Bill Someone wise once said, “Teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves.” Another wise man said, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” William J. H. Boetcker said:

I was juror number twenty-four. There were a couple of us who had the audacity to state on our questionnaire that we had obtained a four-year degree from a college or university.

At the top of the agenda for reporters this news cycle is the global food crisis. Jay Leno observed that the world is suffering from a food shortage and obesity at the same time! Pundits, who seem to have the attention span of a Bartlett pear, are busily looking for someone to blame. The conservative bloggers are plotting a conspiracy theory which blames the environmentalists. It goes like this:

Corn grain usually makes up 30 to 35 percent of the total ration dry matter (DM) of a typical Midwest lactating cow diet. Changes in its price, therefore, can have significant impact on total feed costs.

Poor fertility of lactating dairy cows significantly challenges most dairy producers. In most herds conception rates of cows are at best about half that of heifers.

1. Define the problem. Use DHIA or on-farm records, bulk tank somatic cell count (SCC) records, bulk tank cultures and individual cow cultures to try to determine which cows are infected and when they are getting infected.