Cow monitoring technologies bring real-time data to the dairy, finding their place as a tool for both reproductive management and herd health. Three dairymen who installed rumination and activity monitoring systems last year share their experiences and advice.

The negative effects of heat stress are well known and documented on dairies today. Rising temperatures and humidity are associated with a decline in milk production and reproductive performance.

Have you wondered how the Margin Protection Program for Dairy Producers would have worked over the past 14 years? Dr. John Newton of the University of Illinois has shared a handy dashboard you can use to play with different coverage levels, production history and coverage percentage.

Crop prices have been good the last few years. This year’s harvest is predicted to take a different direction, however, and the trend of equipment sharing is looking to re-surge. The practice was strong after the recession in 2008 and waned in recent seasons.

Workplace violence is a significant occupational health and safety issue and occurs when workers experience verbal abuse, verbal/physical threat of assault or physical assault, which includes fatal and non-fatal injury, as well as adverse emotional consequences in the absence of a physical injury.

Due to my interest and background in purebred dairy cattle, I have followed the price of dairy replacements for many years. While working with a Florida-based dairy cooperative, my interest in watching dairy replacement prices grew for another reason. Many of the cooperative members purchased all or a large percentage of their replacements. Some members purchased hundreds of replacements each year. Watching the replacement buying patterns of cooperative members provided me another barometer of what was happening on their dairy farms in terms of profitability.

The extra point in football has been called pointless. The National Football League has discussed getting rid of it because the kick is easy, almost always made and just takes up valuable game time to move the kicking unit on and off the field. What if the NFL decided to add a wrinkle to the extra point kick? Let’s say the opposing team could line up, and when the whistle blew to start the play, they could move the goalpost one way or another to fool the kicking unit.

With the threat of hidden cameras, rogue employees and slanderous anti-animal agriculture agendas, standing guard against activist groups should be part of every dairy’s business plan.

The Syracuse, New York, office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will be implementing a “Local Emphasis Program” consisting of random, unannounced dairy farm safety compliance inspections beginning in July.