The recently announced bilateral free trade agreement between the EU and Japan FTA is a threat to U.S. agricultural exports, according to American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) economist Veronica Nigh. Japan has long been a key U.S. market, consistently ranking as the fourth-largest market for U.S. agricultural products, despite high tariffs on many agricultural goods. However, EU-Japanese trade negotiations went into “hyper-drive” after the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations in January.

Editor's note: The CEO Corner contains editors' compilations of business news from top publications, which they have tailored for the dairy industry. “As the CEO, you have to realize you can’t do everything yourself anymore,” says Michael Dubin, as recently quoted in the July/August issue of Inc. magazine in an article he wrote himself titled “How I created a billion-dollar company.”

May 2017 U.S. dairy product exports hit a two-year high, but U.S. agriculture turned in a rare trade deficit during the month. And, a new trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Japan threatens U.S. dairy sales to one of its major buyers.

According to one study, activity and rumination monitors have the potential to accurately detect fresh cow diseases like ketosis, metritis, displaced abomasum and even mastitis days earlier than clinical signs can be detected.

The most profitable dairies all have one thing in common – they are really good at getting milk components from cows.  They recognize the real value of milk lies in the fat and protein components and to get the best return on investment, they focus on feeding their cows for the most efficient component production, not just the highest milk production. In other words, they make sure every bite of the ration is working towards the right goal. 

Producers have recognized for years they must feed a certain amount of fiber in their mixed rations even though there is no actual dietary fiber requirement for cattle. Selecting the optimal amount of fiber depends on your production goals and can be compared to the way Goldilocks picked the best porridge from the Three Bears table: using too little fiber will make the ration “too hot” using too much will make it “too cold” and of course, there is an amount that is “just right”

We all know that cows are sensitive to heat stress, with cumulative, negative effects that compromise both cow productivity and farm profitability. It’s important that both humidity and temperature (THI) are taken into consideration when measuring heat stress levels because humidity will affect at what temperature cows become heat stressed.

If your farm experiences high turnover on a constant basis, it may be time for a self-evaluation to address the reasons why this is occurring. I recently took to social media and asked employees what was the top reason they left the last farm they worked for.

Big things are happening at the small rural school that our kids attend. With under 150 children in grades preschool to eight, the school has dedicated itself to teaching its students life skills, utilizing the “Leader in Me” program, based on the book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

In mathematical terms two plus two equals four. But in crossbreeding terms, two plus two equals five and in some cases, even six.