When life gives you cow’s milk, make cheese curds. Or give tours. Or sell under someone else’s label.

Two federal dairy safety net programs saw increased activity in mid-August.

“Veterinarian dies after being trapped in collapsed silage pile.” “18-year-old dies in pack tractor rollover accident in a bunker silo.” “Teenage farm worker dies in silage defacer entanglement.”

When dairy farming is based on grazing, a necessary focus on managing pastures to optimize forage nutrients for cow health and productivity emerges.

July 2019 U.S. milk production inched above year-ago levels by the slimmest of margins, according to the USDA’s monthly Milk Production report, released Aug. 19.

Rest is both a noun and a verb according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. A bodily state characterized by minimal function and metabolic activities and peace of mind or spirit are a couple of the definitions you will find for rest as a noun.

Interest rates on many types of agricultural loans in the nation’s midsection were already headed lower before the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FMOC) adjusted its benchmark lending rate lower in late July. In the first reduction since 2008, the FMOC dropped the rate to 2% from 2.25%, or 25 basis points from the previous level, and also left the door open to future cuts in 2019.

Keith Cunningham went from zero to $100 million and lost it in a period of 3.5 years. Emotions, excessive pride, greed and arrogance slipped into the way Cunningham ran his business, and he lost it all.

Digest Highlights

• Milk featured on fewer than 50% of top 200 restaurant chains’ kids’ menus
• Cover crop, prevent plant acreage jumps
• Non-real estate farm loans getting bigger, with longer terms
• Wisconsin dairy generates $45.6 billion in economic impact
• Idaho Milk Products expands Jerome facility
• Penn State Extension offers online ’milking practices’ course

Your best employee should be in charge of feeding your herd, including weighing, mixing, delivery and monitoring rations. This individual can make or break the feeding program, rumen health and profitability.