A 450-cow dairy in Hawley, Minnesota, will be test-driving a body condition scoring camera in 2017 as soon as its remodeled freestall barn and new milking robots are installed early this summer.

Why? Why do consumers choose to buy a particular product? Why do they avoid others? What motivates their food-buying decisions? Where are consumers having conversations about food and who is leading those conversations?

Providing a comfortable environment for the animals under our care is fundamental to what it means to be a good dairy farmer and is something we take pride in as an industry. This is one reason why cow comfort features prominently in dairy industry standards, including the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program.

When mowing hay, numerous management decisions contribute to total yield, forage quality and stand longevity.

“Sixty-five percent of today’s students will be involved in jobs that don’t exist yet.” Sounds crazy, right? But the 2013 U.S. Department of Labor report that made this claim is likely closer to the truth than many of us can imagine.

I always look forward to spring after a long, cold, snowy winter. There is something about the longer daylight and the warmth it brings. But what is really good is to see the earth come alive again. It’s wonderful to see the grass and trees green up, along with all the birds coming back from down south.

Parlor efficiency is critical to the profitability of all dairies regardless of size. A recent study showed the pounds of milk harvested per parlor stall per hour is one of the three most important factors influencing a dairy’s profitability. If a dairy can milk one additional parlor side per hour, the financial impact is huge, and labor costs and capital costs remain the same.

Preventing mastitis is no easy task due to the many risk factors that can be present on any given dairy. The variation in the biology of the cow, the bugs and the humans performing the tasks can make it very difficult to control on any given day. One risk factor, though, that should be easier to manage is the function of the milking equipment.

A healthy heart is the central system keeping your body alive and functioning properly. The same is true with your milking system. The pulsator acts as the heartbeat of the entire milking system to ensure proper milk harvest.

Nutrition models often don’t result in the performance expected when they are put into use on the dairy, said Jim Tully of Pine Creek Nutrition Services during the Penn State 2016 Dairy Nutrition Workshop.