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In the field of post-mortem examination, experienced pathologists develop a sixth sense. I encountered that sixth sense while a first-year resident at Cornell University, in the middle of a winter morning.
At 11 a.m. our lab received a phone call letting us know about seven dead heifers from a farm in upstate New York.
I have a couple of eighth graders who are starting to take an interest in politics. Sometimes they ask me soul-searching questions that cause me to dig in and search for answers.
“There is a lot you can tell about a person just by looking at their shoes.” If this saying is really true, I believe there is a lot you can tell about mechanics by looking at their shops.
Recently, I was buying some used equipment and ended up making a drive to Middleton, Idaho. There, I purchased a used diesel engine for a good price.
I was excited about the buy, but even more excited when the seller took me into his shop to show me the engine.
I grew up on a typical dairy farm in northeastern Wisconsin, where we milked 35 to 40 Holstein cows from 1940 through 1969.
We were somewhat atypical in that we also raised potatoes for the commercial market and grew Scots Pine Christmas trees.
In the ’50s, when I was a teenager, my father purchased a Surge bucket milking system.
Replacement heifer feeding programs must be designed to allow heifers to be bred efficiently, calve out by 24 months old and produce to their maximum potential.
To achieve this, heifers must be fed to grow at a high rate while not becoming overconditioned, as well as to remain healthy.
The costs of replacement dairy heifer rearing are second only to the feed costs of lactating cows, representing 15 to 20 percent of total farm operational expenses. Of these costs, feed represents the greatest expense in heifer-rearing costs.
I am within three weeks of completing my six-month tour here in South Sudan. So begins the examination of what worked, what did not and where we could improve.
The word “we” refers to the U.S. government. I am assigned to the U.S. embassy and fall under the staff of the ambassador.
Sometimes, pictures just aren’t enough.
For several years, staff members at University of California – Davis’ Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center took pictures of vets doing their jobs to area schools and events to show students about the field.
But they wanted to do more – so they built a cow – out of cardboard.
The cardboard cow, affectionately known as CC, has opened up a new level of “hands-on” learning for youngsters in central California.
The Senate version of the 2012 Farm Bill passed a crucial test today when 90 Senators voted in favor of bringing the bill to the floor for further consideration, according to the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF).
The 2012 Farm Bill, formally designated S. 3240, passed the cloture vote Thursday by an overwhelming margin of 90-8. The measure now proceeds to the full Senate floor for debate and amendments, a process that could take several weeks before a final vote is taken.
Thursday’s action “greatly increases the chances that we can get our dairy reform proposal through the Senate, as well as the House, and passed into law this year,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF.
It’s baseball season again! I love the game and look forward to the start of the season each spring. Sure, it’s just a game, but there are some lessons from baseball we can apply to dairy whether you are a fan or not.
1. Play the percentages
In baseball, managers play the percentages – they usually go with what has a higher likelihood of success.
So left-handed hitters bat against right-handed pitchers and vice versa; certain individuals will be in the lineup against certain pitchers because of their record against that pitcher; fielders shift to cover the hitting tendencies of batters (like the famous Jim Thome shift).
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