They say everyone needs a good education. I am educated. My mom home-schooled me, and I graduated when I was 7 years old; she looked at me and said, “Well Tim, that’s everything I know.” An education in farming can come in many forms. A formal education can be bought at many colleges and universities, and many of these schools do offer farming degrees. Generally, these are short courses like a couple semesters or a weekend seminar. Actually, it’s shorter than that. They mail you a pack of seeds, tell you to plant them – even if they don’t grow, you have just graduated into being a farmer.

Is upgrading your clean-in-place (CIP) system on your to-do list? If not, maybe it should be. The importance of an effective CIP system can’t be stressed enough. Properly cleaned milking equipment is essential to keeping low bacteria counts and maintaining milk quality.

One of the greatest expenses associated with raw manure is transportation, due to the huge amount of manure (volume and weight) and distances between dairy sites and application lands.

Parlor, pen, rail or headlocks – what works best? Recent research revealed that prevention and control of digital dermatitis (DD) during the raising period positively impacts a heifer’s first-lactation hoof health, reproduction and milk production.

Trace minerals continue to be studied and explored in dairy cattle nutrition. Trace minerals do not immediately impact milk yield such as increasing amino acids, added fats and oils, or improved fiber digestibility.

I wonder if I will see in my lifetime the end of “designated Americans”? I was filling out a form and was asked to check if I was African American, Hawaiian American, Latin American, Native American, Asian American, Anglo American or Other American.

Tears were shed as Joan Wortman watched each one of her Milking Shorthorn cows sell from Green Acres Farm in South Randolf, Vermont. Every single cow was born on the farm and was part of her close-knit family.

Our Sept. 12 issue featured Leen Leenaerts and Jake Coy, two international participants of this year's U.S. Dairy Education and Training Consortium. Below, check out images from Leenaerts’ home farm in Belgium. Photos provided by Leen Leenaerts.

An overwhelming majority of readers do not agree with the USDA’s decision to allow beef exports from Brazil.