Michigan will get some much-needed milk processing capacity, although project completion is more than two years away.

The U.S. dairy industry this week continued to push back against Canada’s protectionist policies that are effectively blocking American dairy imports into the country in violation of international agreements.

Just as dairy farmers were seeing improved milk prices and lower feed costs, some may take a financial hit in another dairy enterprise – Holstein steers and bull calves.

More than 100 dairy producers and allied industry representatives from 15 states toured SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo in January. The group was part of Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin’s annual Managers Academy. The three-day event was held in San Diego, California, this year.

After making a number of changes in the freestall barn and parlor at Legacy Farms in Shell Lake, Wisconsin, the farm has reduced its number of treated cows to less than 1 percent.

Ashley Messing-Kennedy farms with her husband, 1-year-old daughter and her parents on her family’s dairy farm in Michigan. They milk about 240 Jersey and Holstein cows with four Lely robots.

I won’t say that you should treat your employees like cattle, but there are some good reminders for managing employees from the role of a cowboy moving cattle. Like them, your job is to ride herd. The most effective cowboys would say that involves the following responsibilities:

In the big game this Sunday afternoon, highly trained players will coordinate their activities as precisely as they can against the onslaught of the other team. If all goes according to plan, the quarterback may throw the ball to a certain spot on the field where his receiver is supposed to be at just the right time. They call it teamwork. It is a thing of beauty when it happens!

This month’s VAS DC305 tip is on clinical mastitis. Clinical mastitis is a very costly disease. Although poor milk procedures, dirty environments and faulty equipment can predispose cows, most mastitis is caused by an infectious agent. Treatment of mastitis (MAST event in DC305) caused by certain bacteria is not improved by antibiotic therapy, so not treating those cows will decrease antibiotic use, decrease hospital days and decrease milk withheld from sale.

Robots have made their way to the farm and are trending in rapid rates as dairy producers adopt the new technology to efficiently produce high-quality milk. Dr. Rick Watters, a senior extension veterinarian with Cornell University, shared the management benefits of automatic milk installations at the 2016 Dairy Practices Council Conference held in East Lansing, Michigan.