With tax season upon us, the last thing you probably want to hear is the word “audit.” However, not all audits are created equally, and one type – an energy audit – can actually save you money.

With the growing costs of utilities, more dairy owners across the nation are turning to renewable energy alternatives. There are many benefits to using renewable energy, such as the long-term savings, less maintenance, decreasing your carbon footprint and even saving money on your taxes.

It can be a challenge to keep cows healthy on a dairy with common diseases such as mastitis, lameness, metritis and others negatively impacting herd profitability. A review of existing research shows that per-incident cost of some health events can approach $500, and that nearly one out of every three cows that experience a significant health issue may be culled.

Take a moment and make a mental picture of the most profitable cow in your barn. Is she the stylish, large-framed and open-ribbed 2-year-old who catches everyone’s eye?

Automated activity monitoring systems are now the backbone of many herd reproductive management systems. This technology is helping herds achieve reproductive results that seemed impossible only a decade ago.

Precision agriculture is a term often used to describe crop management – but in a recent Progressive Dairyman article, Robert Fourdraine, vice president of research and development for Cooperative Resources International, described dairy management with the same term.

There’s a great deal of industry buzz around programs and technology that promise to create healthier cows for your herd, but don’t forget about the tool you already have available.

You spend time and effort measuring and monitoring animal performance metrics on your dairy. Just as football or basketball coaches pour over player stats to help improve team success, dairy producers track individual, group and herd data to enhance their operations’ productivity and profitability.

Animal welfare is more than simply understanding animal health; however, by learning what it means to farmers, veterinarians, customers and consumers, you might find it’s also not as complex as some people make it out to be.

We often get questions from dairy farmers about how they can become more effective at telling their story to build and convey trust and confidence in dairy to consumers.