A year ago the center set out with the help of its partners to better understand what Pennsylvania’s dairy industry will look like in 2020. The results from the analysis are telling. Dairy is clearly not immune to the cultural and market-based shifts affecting nearly every industry and every business around the country. PD Click here to read the full column at the Center for Dairy Excellence website.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is the second in a series of online columns from University of Texas, School of Public Health assistant professor David Douphrate and his dairy industry colleagues about ways that dairy managers and owners can comply with health and safety regulations. Click here to read the first article in this series. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to inspect job sites. Almost all OSHA inspections are unannounced. A U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA compliance officer may inspect the farm at any reasonable hour as a result of an employee complaint or a reportable accident.

As if there weren’t enough issues facing the agricultural industry, alongcomes the 2012-2013 flu season.

In 2012, and likely continuing into 2013, economic conditions for the dairy enterprise have been at best challenging. Coming on top of a disastrous year in 2009 and continuing in the new era of high feed prices, many dairies are in very weak financial positions. These businesses are often called “troubled dairies.”

It’s finally that time of year again ... trade show season. It seems that once everyone realized how slow the months of February and March are, every company and organization in the dairy industry started scheduling their meetings, seminars and conferences to fill in all the open dates. Now, it turns out that February and March are just as busy as the spring and fall.

In recent years, higher and more volatile feed prices have made it difficult for producers to predict their profitability by looking at milk price alone. While the milk price trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has historically been a good indicator, it only shows part of the picture.

Watching two 80-stall, back-to-back rotary parlors milk a combined 6,500 cows twice per day would amaze just about anyone.