A Pennsylvania farm worker was killed while taking a silage sample.

When it comes to digester technology, lagoon covers, treatment systems and other methods of manure handling, it seems like much of the press lately has been on the ‘big guys’. Now, I am by no means suggesting that larger production facilities are any better in management or production practices. What I am saying is that the media tends to focus on the larger players in agriculture, for good and for bad, depending on the angle they approach.

How many cows does it take to support an anaerobic digester? The answer: a lot. Large farms have implemented anaerobic digestion (AD) systems in recent years, but little interest has been paid to small- and medium-sized farms until now.

You know algae. It’s the gunk that collects on the sides of a fish tank when you forget to clean it. It’s the slime that makes you slip on rocks while crossing a stream. You probably think of algae as a nuisance, if you even bother to think of it at all.

The Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) is making an effort to encourage more young people to participate in the Bareback, Saddle Bronc and Bull Riding events. Simultaneously, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is making an effort to encourage more students to become livestock and equine veterinarians. Does that mean more young people are less interested in riding or doctoring untamed large herbivorous animals? Exactly!

A reader recently e-mailed me to say he enjoyed our animal welfare review series. He also read with interest the standards comparison chart in the last issue.

For nearly 150 years, members of Jay Hansen’s family have lived and farmed on Black Hawk County land near Waterloo, Iowa, where Jay and his four sons now work together.

The Western Dairy Challenge contest took place between Feb. 28 and March 1, at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Visalia, California.

As corn prices hovered near $3.50 per bushel, feed cost per cow per day increased over 80 cents per 100 pounds, while record milk prices occurred in July 2007. In 2007-2008, milk price will need to increase $1 per hundredweight to cover higher corn grain, hay, cottonseed and silage costs.

For most hay producers throughout the United States, 2007 ended up being a good year. Hay prices were well above five-year averages, and weather permitting, 2008 is looking to remain the same for most growers.