Our world has more conveniences than ever. Technology has afforded us the luxury that practically any item we desire – including our food – is a click away. Need groceries or ready-made meals delivered to your doorstep? There’s an app for that.

The wait is (kind of) over. Last fall, trade authorities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada agreed to a trilateral free trade agreement (USMCA) that replaces the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Cost of production (COP) is one of the most important metrics to evaluate a dairy operation’s financial status. However, when discussing COP, people typically refer to cash flow and include purchased feed, labor, principal and interest payments, and any cash capital purchases.

In 2014, Class III producer milk prices were above $20 per hundredweight (cwt). Milk protein was worth more than butterfat, and amino acid balancing was becoming the accepted technology for increasing butterfat and milk protein component levels.

Meeting changing consumer demands for nutritious snacking and convenience can boost dairy product consumption, according to panelists featured during the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) annual Dairy Food and Policy Summit, held Dec. 19-20, 2018 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Recently I’ve talked about the tension that comes with great wealth transfer. Here is more information on that subject. Financial planner Anthony Williams describes a study by Investment News suggesting 66 percent of children will ultimately fire their parents’ financial adviser once they receive their inheritance. These children are called fleeing heirs.

The growing season from East to West coasts the past year has been somewhat like stock and futures markets. Several months of (early season) conditions and expectations changed markedly in a matter of a few weeks. To quickly recap, parts of the western U.S. continued to experience dry conditions through the growing season.

The number of farms with automated milking systems has rapidly increased in North America over the past 15 years. Despite the increase in adoption, there have been very few controlled studies that have evaluated feeding management strategies for cows milked within automated milking systems.

Some of the major concerns in the dairy industry regarding the implementation of the Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD) were increased costs due to management changes and unavailability of in-feed antibiotic medication.

For many years, the expectations for high milk production along with excellent herd health and reproductive performance were considered at odds with each other. It was believed you should not and could not expect to achieve high milk yields without compromising herd health and reproductive performance.