You may not need to force your kids to eat their vegetables – the backlash against veganism is here. With the rise in popularity of vegan, plant-based diets, people are discovering that plant-based diets are not healthier.

Change – a terrifying six-letter word that most people hate. It’s no secret that, whether good or bad, change is difficult. Most of us, just like our cows, like routine. We like to know what to expect, and we like our comfort zones. However, as farmers know very well, change is inevitable. And many times, change is good; we just have to allow ourselves to welcome the change. When it comes to expanding your farm, you need to manage your employees mentally through the expansion as much as the physical expansion itself.

Auto-feeder systems face many challenges, including temperature, moisture (humidity), dust, colostrum, genetics, environment and ventilation. Overcoming these challenges is important for raising healthy calves on an auto-feeder.

The U.S. dairy industry is seen as a big winner in a new trade agreement between former members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), although some of the provisions will be phased in over more than a decade.

Digest Highlights FDA prioritizes ‘dairy’ labels California water fees raised Shamrock Farms expands partnership with University of Arizona Fuel Up to Play 60, Chelan Fresh collaborate Minnesota offers milk cooler grants ‘Dry’ cows mostly in the Southwest Wisconsin adds three ‘ag enterprise’ areas

Through the first six months of 2018, average Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) “mailbox prices” – approximating the net price received by dairy farmers for milk after adding any premiums and deducting costs associated with hauling and marketing – were about $1.79 per hundredweight (cwt) less than the same period in 2017 (Table 1). For those with a longer memory, average mailbox prices were running $9 per cwt less than the record highs of 2014.

When it comes to balancing diets for amino acids, the dairy industry is in its infancy. Research, combined with more refined nutrition models, has helped identify some amino acids as limiting. But additional work is needed to evaluate more individual AAs and to better understand the role they play.

Dairy lenders and financial consultants got an “insider’s view” of ongoing efforts to strengthen Pennsylvania’s dairy processing infrastructure and overall dairy economy during the Dairy Financial and Risk Management Conference on Sept. 12 in Summerdale, Pennsylvania.

August 2018’s Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy) calculations indicate margins improved somewhat, thanks primarily to lower feed costs.

This year, I set a goal to read something new each day for 15 minutes. My favorite genre is business and self-improvement, so I’ve been reading book titles like The Culture Code and When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing.