We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
Delegates attending the 95th annual meeting of Michigan Milk Producers Association on March 15 re-elected Rodney Daniels of Whittemore, Michigan, to an at-large, three-year term on the board of directors.
During the board’s reorganizational meeting held after the delegate meeting the following officers were elected: President: Ken Nobis, St. Johns, Michigan; Vice President: Bob Kran, FreeSoil, Michigan; Treasurer: Mark Halbert, Battle Creek, Michigan.
Three new faces were welcomed to the Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium Board of Directors at the WLIC Annual Meeting held March 1 at Wisconsin Farm Bureau.
Brian Bolan from Wisconsin State Fair, Dan Sutherland from Johnsonville Sausage, and Tom DeMuth from AgSource were all welcomed to the Board of Directors. Dr. Thomas McKenna of Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and Richard Keller of Wisconsin Farmers Union were re-elected for their second term.
"As a first-rate dairy producer who also runs his own processing facility, Les brings a unique perspective to his USDEC chairmanship. He truly understands both sides of the equation. It’s exactly this kind of experience that we need to help grow strong global markets."
—Tom Suber, president, U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC)
Age: Young enough to still be having fun and enjoying life.
Location: Greeley, Colorado
My dairy’s history: Sherrill and I are the third generation that has marketed milk for consumption. We operate two dairies: the 700-cow Painted Prairie Dairy as well as our small, educational showcase farm, Cozy Cow Dairy.
When the conventional way of dairy farming wasn’t working for Norm Nickerson and his sons, Chris and Joe, they decided it was time for a change.
“Our philosophy is to keep it simple,” Norm says. “We carry it a little farther than other dairy farmers.”
The Nickersons are graziers. They have four farms in south Florida, which are all divided into paddocks.
This article was originally printed in the April 2011 issue of The DPS Moosletter.
The 47th Annual Florida Dairy Production Conference was held at the Best Western Gateway Grand in Gainesville, Florida, March 30. The conference was sponsored by the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Florida, Florida Cooperative Extension Service and the Agricultural Experiment Station of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Dairy industry speakers from Florida to New York spoke on various issues and topics ranging from animal health/reproduction to the state of the dairy economy and dairy lending. Topics were focused on the southeastern United States.
In recent years, feed costs have represented more than 60 percent of the cost of producing milk, and feed prices have been high relative to the sale price of milk.
Now that milk prices are finally on the rise so are inputs, especially corn, which is not good news for dairy farmers.
Mortality rates in the dairy industry are much higher than those in the cow/calf or feedlot industries. Death losses have not been studied very intensively in the dairy industry. Estimates of these death losses are quite variable.
Unless they are focused on monitoring cow deaths, dairy producers may underestimate the amount of adult cow death loss on their operations.
Texas A&M's Ralph Bruno explained the causes and symptoms of the metabolic disease ketosis in this 2011 article. to jump to the article.
Because this Herd Health article has been so popular, we asked Bruno a follow-up question:
Q: What is the most often overlooked way of preventing or reducing the risk of ketosis?
Ketosis is a metabolic disease very often observed in high producing herds. It is associated with poor management of the transition period resulting in decreased dry matter intake and increased BCS loss (fat mobilization) therefore, increasing blood circulating levels of ketone bodies.
There is much in the news today about unrest and revolution in the world. The “common man” rising up and asking: “Why do we live like this, when we have seen how others live?” The connectivity of our communication systems brings every corner of the world to our computer screens, our BlackBerrys, and our social media.
Even though the number of antibiotic residue violations in meat is very small, market dairy animals represent the bulk of violations among all classes of cattle.
Responsible therapeutic use of antibiotics in dairy replacement heifers is a top priority for avoiding drug residues in market cattle and ensuring consumer confidence in food safety.
RSS
