How cows eat and ruminate is just as important as the nutritional composition of the feed in front of them. Make the most of every minute at the bunk by understanding dairy cow behavior and incorporating that into daily herd management.

An opportunity for capturing higher profits may be hiding in a herd’s voluntary waiting period (VWP). “With better control of when cows get pregnant, you can then control the timing of the pregnancies to when cows make you the most money.”

It’s been said the world is filled with dreamers and doers. There are those who dream but don’t do and those who do but don’t dream. A rare find is the individual who both dreams and does.

When building a dairy barn, choosing between natural and mechanical ventilation can be a tough decision; however, a novel design brings the two methods together to create a controllable environment with big time cow comfort payoffs.

Two farm kids are making a name for themselves in Nashville as a duo who pays homage to their dairy farming roots. Since teaming up just a couple of years ago, the Dairy Daughters have opened for big names like Diamond Rio, Love and Theft, and the Bellamy Brothers, bringing to the stage a raw authenticity combined with incredible singing, song-writing and instrumental talent.

Dairy farmers aren’t the only business owners struggling to find and retain a labor force. According to Kurt Bauer, president and CEO of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), 80 percent of his group’s members are having trouble hiring people right now too.

April 15, 2018, is a day brothers Chad and Darren Van Camp say they will never forget. Not because it was the annual income tax deadline but because it marked the most severe winter snowstorm either men had seen in their lifetimes.

Since the beginning of the genomic era, the De-Su prefix has dominated high-ranking Holstein lists, leaving a lasting impact on the breed with bulls like Observer, Bookem and Balisto, just to name a few.

At Son-Bow Farms near Spring Valley, Wisconsin, the sand-laden manure from 1,400 cows no longer goes straight to the lagoon.