Cow comfort is a top-of-mind topic for farmers and consumers alike. Optimizing cow comfort is key to profitability on the dairy, as it is linked with higher milk production, reproduction and improved herd health. It is satisfying the animal’s needs, which can only be done by assessing each individual situation.

In farming, we have a culture of putting out the white picket fence and hiding our mistakes. Instead, we need to flip this attitude around and, instead of sweeping our mistakes under the rug, get really good at finding flaws and fixing them.

In 2000, the first automatic milking system was installed in the U.S. Slow, then rapid, growth had robots popping up across the Midwest and Northeast; however, the technology wasn’t moving West – until now.

As you look back on that fateful day, it seems time will forever be distinguished between pre- and post-installation.

Have you ever contemplated benchmarking data for the top 10th percentile of farms and thought, “There is no way I will be able to reach that level” or “I’ve been at that number for years without a lot of effort”?

It’s the hottest thing in haymaking. For years, hay producers have obsessed over weather forecasts, watching with worried eyes as red digital rain clouds swept in their direction.

As owner of W D Farms, a manure application and trucking company, we’ve been hauling manure and other organic byproducts for land application since 1987.

Transportation costs are a fact of life that, for most people, begins and ends at the gas station with today’s posted price of gasoline or diesel.

The need for portable fuel transfer has always been an issue for farmers, but today with expanding farm operations, the need for safe and efficient fuel transfer is greater than ever.

In many cases, farm owners decide to purchase equipment rather than rent it because they have a consistent long-term need for it.