Corn has been a go-to crop for many dairymen when it comes to silage production, but it isn’t always the best option. Drought conditions that have spread across the country in recent years have underscored the need for productive forage crops with high water-use efficiency.

The lab results are in – and the diagnosis is a challenging year ahead as crops harvested in 2014 were not quite up to par. At the PDPW Dairy Feed and Nutrition Conference in November, Dr. Mike Hutjens from the University of Illinois shared testing results from Midwest forage laboratories and outlined the steps he’d take to manage feedout.

With December 25 and New Year’s out of the way, the shimmer of Christmas is replaced with the crimson flash of Valentine’s Day. Cupids and hearts dance in every store window, prepping for the buying and selling of another holiday. I don’t think I have ever asked myself, “Why do we do this Valentine thing?”

When looking for farm equipment tires, you have plenty of options … or at least you should. Good tire dealers don’t just try to sell what’s left in stock. Instead, they’ll offer many different brands and types of tires, as well as all the rims, accessories and hardware to go with them, to help you find the one solution that will work best.

My grandfather, Dieter Kramer, had always told me: “Ryan, don’t be drinking the water beer.” Water beer was his term for any domestic lager. It was as fine a metaphor as any other for life.

At the 2014 AcresUSA Conference and Trade Show in early December, Richard “Doc” Holliday, a veterinarian from Waukon, Iowa, was presented with the AcresUSA Eco-agriculture Achievement Award. This award is presented yearly to an exceptional leader in the eco-agriculture community. Doc, a 1959 graduate of the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, was honored for his work in the alternative veterinary and holistic agricultural communities. In 1988, he became the first certified veterinary acupuncturist and served as president of the International Acupuncture Association from 1992 to 1994. Doc currently works as the senior veterinary consultant for Advanced Biological Concepts.

I was reminded of Harry Johnson today. I’d been drivin’ down a long stretch of country road. The snow blowin’ up in the rearview mirror, a thermos of coffee in the seat, and the sun warmin’ the cab of the pickup.

Come to one of Progressive Dairyman’s seminars at World Ag Expo for a chance to win cash. “Dairymen are really going to enjoy the new technologies that will be discussed in our seminars this year,” Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley says. “I’m really excited for the discussion about cloud-based herd management on Tuesday’s agenda.”