According to new analysis of DHI test-day records bythe USDA’s Animal Improvement Laboratory, the averagetest-day SCC in the U.S. declined by 17,000 cells per mL in2012 to 200,000.

Note: The following commentary is based on legislative language as it was introduced and does not reflect any changes that may be made during legislative proceedings. Dairy producers and their current employees stand to gain significant benefits from passage of a proposed immigration bill introduced in the U.S. Senate in late April.

Ed Taylor, Diane Charlton and Antonio Yúnez-Naude recently published new economic research using nationally representative household survey data from rural Mexico that tracks workers over 30 years. Their work shows a decline in willingness of Mexican workers to seek ag labor – both in Mexico and in the U.S. Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley spoke with Charlton about the potential impacts of this trend on U.S. agriculture.

For anyone who grows crops for a living or gardens as a hobby, this past “spring” will be hard to forget. Throughout most of the Midwest, it’s been an unusually long, snowy winter and short, wet spring.

In health and fitness circles, people are often encouraged to “know your numbers.” Key statistics like height, weight, body mass index, cholesterol and blood pressure numbers are often used as basic measurements – or at least benchmarks for embarking on a fitness program.

In my last column for Progressive Dairyman, I discussed how lower SCC limits are being put in place by processors and how the system of premiums for quality milk is potentially going to be replaced by an expectation of quality milk.

From tractors to loaders, to machinery in the milking parlor, dairies depend on equipment to run their operations. The use of equipment allows dairies to operate more efficiently.

There is no magic to getting workers to do exactly what you want. It’s possible by simply executing good management. But you’ll need help from a few key workers who can assist if you’ve put them in the right position within your management scheme.

One of the more unique items on the recent Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference schedule was the robot producer panel. The four different farms represented on the panel were of varying sizes with different robotic systems.