America’s dairy farmers set a goal of empowering children to eat healthier and move more seven years ago. This is why they created – through their dairy checkoff – the school-based Fuel Up to Play 60 program in partnership with the NFL and with support from USDA.

At the 2016 National Hay Association annual convention, Bill Plourd, President of El Toro Export in El Centro, California and a member of the U.S. Forage Export Council (USFEC), posed the question, “Is it time for alfalfa futures contracts in the marketplace?” 

Most Progressive Forage readers believe the new Alfalfa Checkoff Program should focus on pest resistance research first, with winter hardiness as a close second.

It is common for three or four dairy calves to be born on the same day on a dairy farm, but not so common for three heifer calves to be born to the same cow. Ed Wittorff of Wittspride Dairy near Ava, Missouri, found himself surprised by a set of Brown Swiss heifer triplets on a hot, humid day at the end of August.

It’s a deal. Bayer and Monsanto have signed a merger agreement. Bayer announced the agreement for $128 per share in an all-cash transaction.

I’m a fairly pragmatic person, and I’ve learned to keep life simple. So when I told my husband that this month’s column was about “healthy harvest meal hacks,” he laughed and said, “‘Pizza Hut online ordering’ is only four words; how are you going to make that an entire column?”

USDA is seeking nominees to serve on the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board (NDB). Nomination deadline is Sept. 28.

A collaborative research and extension team, which includes faculty from Washington State University, University of Idaho, USDA ARS, University of Florida and the University of Missouri, will be offering a dairy cattle genomics workshop on Oct. 4 in Madison, Wisconsin.

The cows are out of the barn, but a court finally closed the door on public release of names and locations of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

USDA’s September World Ag Supply & Demand Estimates (WASDE) and Crop Production reports indicate a slight backslide from improving dairy price and cost trends.