Dairy feeder steers are the red-headed stepchild of the beef industry – at least that is what we like to call them. I learned that idiom from my dad. It is his favorite. You can use it to describe pretty much anything – a sore on your big toe, an ugly runt in a litter of puppies or, in our case, a few black and whites in a pasture of Angus genetics.

It’s safe to assume that most dairy farmers prefer to focus on the day-to-day management of their operations rather than their financial records. But, unglamorous as it is, maintaining detailed financial reports is critical for making sound business decisions and for managing your operation’s strategy in the near and long term.

Surrendering to a European Union (EU) seizure of common food names would cost the U.S. dairy industry billions of dollars, slash domestic cheese consumption and increase prices for consumers, according to an analysis released by Informa Economics IEG (a summary of the report can be found here).

USDA will offer to purchase another $20 million in cheese early next year after the first offer fell far short of its target.

USDA’s October World Ag Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE) report forsees a lot more milk coming in 2016 and 2017, along with a weakening in projected milk prices. Rapidly growing cow numbers were cited for the milk production gains.

Body condition scoring (BCS) is an essential tool used to estimate the cow’s energy reserves at key points during the yearly production cycle.

Deere & Company announced a joint development agreement with Scherer Design Engineering Inc. to develop and commercialize kernel processing solutions for self-propelled forage harvesters.

The Midwest, blessed with rich soils and abundant precipitation, leads the country and the world in corn and soybean production. It also contributes the majority of the nitrate load in the Gulf of Mexico, leading to its large low-oxygen “dead zone.”