With agriculture and farming in his DNA, Rick Martens is operating a business from the farm that has been in his family for generations. Located 80 miles north of Minneapolis, Minnesota, the century-old dairy farm is no longer home to cows, but now serves as the home base for Martens Manurigation, a custom manure pumping business.

Traditionally, success for automated milking has been measured by increased milk and reduced labor. One full year after starting up robots, Majestic Crossing Dairy is finding additional value in this investment through savings in hoof trimming, mastitis treatments and water use.

I was recently chatting about the dairy industry with someone who works in financing. She noticed I often referred to milk in the conversation but failed to mention other dairy products like yogurt, cheese and butter. “Aren’t those important too?” she asked.

Dairy producers and industry representatives are invited to attend the Progressive Dairy Operator’s Triennial Dairy Symposium, March 4-6 at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre in Toronto, Ontario.

As the pressure to use fewer antibiotics continues to grow, animal agriculture needs to be inventive and find different solutions to treat animals or keep livestock healthy from the start.

Annual goals, whether outlined at a company’s annual meeting or a personal New Year’s resolution, all have the same challenges. With a full year allotted to accomplish them, the sense of urgency is diminished, and those involved become complacent.

During the gestation period, a cow does all it can to grow an embryo into a calf. The dam’s contributions for its offspring to be successful do not cease at parturition. Instead, its mammary gland secretes a substance with necessary growth factors to set the calf up for life.

What if I told you it only takes three months to fulfill a New Year’s resolution? Would you be more apt to set one this year? Would you be more likely to commit to it for longer than it takes to read this article?

Annual goals, whether outlined at a company’s annual meeting or a personal New Year’s resolution, all have the same challenges. With a full year allotted to accomplish them, the sense of urgency is diminished, and those involved become complacent.

As the pressure to use fewer antibiotics continues to grow, animal agriculture needs to be inventive and find different solutions to treat animals or keep livestock healthy from the start.