Snow will soon blanket many areas of the country, and temperatures will dip below freezing if they haven’t already. Use these practical tips to make sure your calves are ready for the cold.

The beauty of automatic calf feeders is: They allow you to increase intakes without increasing meal size or labor. However, you can’t simply install the technology and walk away.

The characterization of farmers is that they are stubbornly independent. Of course, characterizations are built upon some truth, but the reality is that farmers can’t afford to be totally independent. Farmers need each other.

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) board endorsed a proposal to change how federal milk marketing order (FMMO) Class I base prices are calculated. The proposal will be one element of a larger package of risk management improvements that NMPF will ask Congress to approve as the House and Senate agriculture committees begin to formulate the 2018 Farm Bill.

October 2017 U.S. milk production grew 1.4 percent compared with the same month a year earlier, picking up the pace after slowing somewhat in September, according to the USDA’s latest Milk Production report.

It’s been a tough year for dairy farmers; milk prices have been low for two years, and in some places like Michigan, a deduction has taken another bite out of milk checks to cover the cost of milk sold at a loss by their cooperative.

Digest Highlights: ‘Flexitarians’ are impacting fluid milk consumption. I-9 Form scam alert issued. Additional salmonella Heidelberg cases linked to contact with dairy bull calves. ACA enrollment deadline is Dec. 15. Find a summary of these and other news here.

As you know, dairy farm operations cannot stop for holidays. You and your employees, however, are members of families and social groups that have holiday expectations, traditions and plans.

This past September, I became a mom … to twins! The husband and I are officially the parents to one little farm boy and one little farm girl. While I have forgotten what “sleep” is, we have never been happier.

Every day, dairy farmers go to great lengths to care for their cows. In this series from Dairy MAX, Anita van der Laan of Van der Laan Dairy in Oklahoma shares her story about caring for a premature calf through a snakebite. Can you relate? Allison was born to a first-time mom on a Saturday morning – about five weeks early. No hair – in February.