It’s probably fair to say that you’re busier now than you’ve ever been, right? So what are all these activities that keep you so busy? Now be honest … are all these things really that important?

Center for Dairy Excellence staff recently traveled to the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania, where the Marcellus Shale gas industry is rapidly taking over. What they found transcends to other regions of the U.S. Despite the external pressures of the gas industry, many dairy producers are still very excited about their future in dairy. They’re setting a course to take advantage of the opportunities that await. PD Click here to read the full column at the CDE website.

When you think of all the contractors involved in building your house, which trade do you think was the most important? I know a guy who says it’s the insulation guy. Take a guess at what he does.

We begin with a formula for feedback that, when implemented, will increase performance and enhance job satisfaction:

Joe Dairyman has a dilemma. Joe has to decide whether he will build another 200-cow freestall barn or purchase and install five large feed bins. He does not have enough money to make both investments.

It is 10 a.m. on a November morning in 1981. A 15-year-old boy is standing across the desk from his dad at his dad’s cardboard factory. The dad is screaming and complaining, pointing out who knows what. And then he comes down on the young boy, telling him he can’t do anything right.

I was born and raised in St. Charles, a rural town in southeastern Idaho. No, my parents didn’t run a potato farm, although the size of our potato garden might lead you to believe so. Rather, we ran a small cattle ranch.

The intensification of New Zealand’s dairy farming industry over the past two decades has caused the aggregation of many smaller, family-operated dairy farms into fewer but larger “corporate-type” enterprises. This has placed quite different demands on those operating and working in them. The industry has not adapted well to this change.

Chemicals are used in many dairy farm operations, and many of these chemicals pose a wide range of health and physical hazards. Chemical exposure may cause or contribute to many serious health effects such as heart ailments, central nervous or reproductive systems, kidney and lung damage, sterility, cancer, burns and rashes. Some chemicals may also pose physical hazards and have the potential to cause fires and explosions and other serious accidents.