Landon and Anne Plagge show how soil-first farming, community leadership and a willingness to innovate can expand conservation efforts far beyond their own acres.

Heavy rains exposed how vulnerable these flat, watershed‑fed fields had become after decades of conventional grain farming. Transitioning to organic row crops revealed how little organic matter remained to absorb extreme weather.

Ensuring optimal calving care for newborns is a top priority for producers. However, the responsibility doesn’t end as the calves leave the farmyard. Special attention must also be given to their nutrition and overall well-being as they transition to spring pastures and continue to grow during the summer months.

While cool-season grasses grow well in the Upper Midwest, producing forage in the spring and again when temperatures cool off in the fall, they suffer from “summer slump” when conditions get too hot or dry, and their growth slows.

In 2014, a bold vision took shape in Blairstown, Iowa, to build a dairy farm with the goal of creating a modern, efficient cow capable of excelling in freestall environments with few health issues and high feed efficiency. That idea became GenoSource LLC, which stands as a testament to vision, persistence and the power of collaboration.

Select Sires Member Cooperative (SSMC) organized the Northeast Iowa Progeny Performance Tour on July 30. Over 70 dairy producers from Minnesota and Iowa joined the excursion.

Phenotype is what puts pounds on calves, beef in bellies and dollars in bank accounts. While significant genetic progress has never been more attainable, optimizing an environment to fully take advantage of that careful genetic selection remains a challenge for many producers.

Technology continues to push the envelope when it comes to reproductive efficiency. Automated monitoring systems and sort gates have proven to be productive investments for dairy farms across the country.

Recent research suggests that beef-on-dairy steers fed a low-starch total mixed ration at a younger age will continue to increase in feed intake and growth longer than those receiving different diets.