When the rain started falling on December 2, 2007, Lonny Shilter expected a typical Washington State thundershower. The forecast was for rain but not as much as fell in a February 1996 storm, which caused flooding in Shilter’s neighborhood.

There are pairs of things in this world that working independently of each other have little, or even negative, value. Yet when combined, these forces create a perfect union that enhances everything associated with the pair.

The following five products were chosen by a committee of industry professionals and dairymen as the newest, most innovative dairy products and will be showcased during World Ag Expo Feb. 12-14 in Tulare, California.Progressive Dairyman asked each of the product inventors or sponsoring companies to discuss how their products came to the dairy market and how the products fill an industry need.

Dairyman Bill Wolfe is the young blood of his Wisconsin family’s fourth-generation farm. His great-grandfather homesteaded the original farm. Since then the family has purchased other farmland adjacent to the homestead, owning a total of 600 acres.

Producers retain employees by being good employers. In this column, I will share some thoughts from producers, who I feel are very good employers, along with my observations of why these producers have retained their best employees. I frequent nearly 30 dairies in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa, and I have the opportunity to observe and learn from some very good employers.

As a child growing up on a Midwestern dairy farm, I heard my father tell people, “Farmers are the only crowd that buy everything at retail, sell everything at wholesale, and pay shipping both ways”.

With forage and commodity storage areas full, feed analysis complete and rations built, the foundation of your nutrition program for the next year is nearly set. Now it’s time to focus on your feeding program to make sure the ration outlined on paper makes it to the cow’s rumen.

It has been long recognized that lameness in dairy cattle is important. It is usually recognized as coming in third to infertility and mastitis as a reason for culling.

Just as proven teat dips help control contagious mastitis, an effective footbath program can help control and prevent (not treat) the spread of infectious claw lesions on the dairy.

Believers attribute everything to God, and non-believers attribute everything to coincidence. I often wonder how two people can witness the same experience and come up with totally different explanations.