What is the best way to go about choosing genetics for your grazing herd? “No single ideal pasture-based cow exists,” says Ted Probert, regional dairy specialist with the University of Missouri Extension.

Sometimes a person can do everything by the book or owner’s manual – and it ends in failure. Such is what happened here last fall when I was chopping corn silage to fill my back silo. We like to have silage in the ration, which we feed to our cattle. They really like it too, and it’s very good for them.

One of the hardest-working parts of a compact track loader is its undercarriage. However, in order for the moving components to function properly, the undercarriage must be maintained and kept clean.

I have no doubt that, like every generation before us, we will judge the next generation to be spoiled or clueless. Nonetheless, whatever does become of them, I hope that the next generation holds us accountable and thinks for themselves.

It’s that time of the year when people gather and listen to hear how things are going. As citizens, we listen to our governors and the president talk about how our states and country are doing. As farmers, we attend cooperative annual meetings, agronomy listening sessions and more to find out if the cooperative had a good year or what the results were from last year’s test plots.

The month of March brings with it some monumental celebrations such as St. Patrick’s Day, which is celebrated by eating corned beef and cabbage, Skittles and lots of green beer. This is a special day for some – but just another typical day for the people of Wisconsin.

Two years ago, Curtis Nolan was sure renovating the milking parlor was the next step for Kenyon Hill Farm, his family’s dairy in northeastern New York, which is operated by Nolan; his dad, Mike; and his brothers, Shane and Ryan.

LEDs have come a long way in the past decade and have established themselves as mainstream lighting technology. Early LED lights could be unreliable and expensive, and some dairies were skeptical about the new lighting’s effect on herd health and milk production.

It is now common to find butyrate in commercial milk replacers and solid feeds for calves. However, the impact it has on the calf varies depending on the delivery method and the source of dietary butyrate being used. Let’s have a closer look at why butyrate is a valuable feed additive, how it can be supplemented and how its use in feeds affects calf performance.

Raising healthy calves is crucial to the success of a dairy operation, as heifers are the future of the milking herd. There are several important aspects related to pre-weaned calf management, including maternity pen management, colostrum management, nutrition and housing.