Cover crops are a tool that can provide dual benefits – soil management and cattle feed – however, not all cover crops are suitable as a forage crop for cattle.

As the first hint of green signaled spring and summer grazing would soon be here, many of us were finalizing our plans for the upcoming breeding season.

It’s been a while (30 years) since I, the god of good taste, answered your many questions regarding what’s in style. It’s quite natural that you’d seek guidance from such a fashion-forward expert as myself.

So I was at a county 4-H leaders’ council meeting the other night. I was there on behalf of the county fair board. Seems there were some questions from leaders regarding some of the rules of the livestock shows at the county fair. They wanted their concerns addressed before the beginning of the official weigh-in two weeks hence.

The newspaper photo showed them leaning into the harmony like four caroling coyotes. The caption named the pickers and said they were members of a new country singing group. It announced that they would be playing at the Dairy Queen on Thursday.

My daughter received a book when she was born titled Click, Clack, Moo. Maybe some of you are familiar with it. In the book the cows have developed a most clever form of communication in which they send typewritten notes to “Farmer Brown,” demanding certain amenities such as heated blankets. When they don’t receive the items requested, they lock themselves in the barn and go on strike. I wonder what the cows on our farm would request if they could type? What would yours want?

USDA’s monthly report estimated that March 2017 U.S. milk production was up 1.8 percent compared to the same month a year earlier, the smallest year-over-year increase since August 2016. But despite the slowdown, increasing cow numbers in most major dairy states would indicate dairy farmers started spring with both feet on the accelerator. It was winter weather-related problems in the West that reduced the overall speed of growth.

In most Progressive Cattleman readers’ opinions, China will grant full access to U.S. beef exports within the next five years.

A popular thought in the ag world is that we need to be concerned about how to increase production in order to feed the projected 9 billion people on the earth by 2050. Much research has been put into how to increase production, which has yielded spectacular results in many different commodities.

Clinical mastitis is an ongoing problem on almost every dairy. We know what causes it, but prevention is another story, according to Dr. Nigel Cook, a professor at the University of Wisconsin. In his experience, around 15 percent of cows on dairies have clinical mastitis, but Cook sees opportunities to reduce that incidence with proper barn design and management.