Kubota Corp., Osaka, Japan, parent company to Kubota U.S.A. Inc., on May 13 announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase Great Plains Manufacturing Inc., based in Salina, Kansas. Once final, the purchase will expand the company’s long-time partnership with Land Pride and will include all five Great Plains divisions with multiple facilities in Kansas and a manufacturing plant in Sleaford, England.

Cultural trends wax and wane, as fads and fashions popular with consumers evolve over time. Right now the trendy narrative about the conventional practices common across American agriculture – and why those conventions are supposedly suspect – is presenting a real challenge to dairy farmers and, frankly, all mainstream food producers.

Spring is here and the manure piles are getting looser. Tender green grass is highly soluble and often passes through the rumen before getting fully dehydrated, causing runnier manure. This is anticipated in spring, but what else can cattle's manure tell us about their health?

Dean Foods reported lower milk costs and higher profits. Saputo ends use of ultrafiltered milk imported from the U.S. Also, dairy companies from California to New York announced new innovations. This and other U.S. dairy industry news can be found here.

Low commodity prices, including dairy, are affecting land values and credit conditions in major Federal Reserve and Farm Credit System districts. Region-by-region summaries of quarterly banker surveys can be found here.

This weekend I had the pleasure of watching my daughter take off on a young colt that we have been riding for her. I love riding young horses and watching the lights come on when they really grasp what you are trying to teach them.

This guide is a climate specific extension of the summary article “Dairy Cooling: The Benefits and Strategies” (PDF, 478KB), which describes heat stress, its costs and consequences, and strategies for its mitigation.

A mild winter that reduced the need for extensive supplemental feeding in many areas helped preserve on-farm hay inventories, according to USDA’s May 10 crop production report.

Three universities received USDA grants to research cattle and forage production under changing climate conditions.