USCA’s Long Road to Truth in Labeling Secures Major Victory.  Article courtesy of United States Cattlemen's Association. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced yesterday the finalization of a rule that would solidify voluntary “Product of USA” labeling claims. The United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) has worked tirelessly to clarify years of confusion at the consumer level regarding the labeling of US beef products. Starting in 2017, USCA’s Director Emeritus Leo McDonnell led a nationwide fundraising effort of cattle producers from across the countr ..read more

Dairy Labor: A Crucial Issue for Many Dairies.  By Heather Smith Thomas.  Good employees are often hard to find and keep, and this is a huge problem for agriculture today, especially in the dairy industry; it is difficult to attract and keep dependable workers.  Small family-operated dairies often get by with one or two extra people, but larger dairies depend on many good employees to make it work. Today there are more people looking for jobs than there were during COVID, but now many of them just want a paycheck or two before moving to something else.  Some of them go bac ..read more

Being In Control.  By Maura Keller.  Fly control has long been a point of contention for dairy farmers. Whether you manage 50 head of dairy cows in a smaller farm, or 500 head in a larger operation, one thing’s for sure: Fly control is a top concern requiring diligence and understanding of the best products and procedures required to keep animals healthy. According to M. Wayne Ayers, DVM, senior technical consultant at Elanco Animal Health, the dairy industry has not seen any new products that would fall into a new chemical class for fly control in several years. However, as the ind ..read more

Regenerative Agriculture on a Dairy Farm.  By Heather Smith Thomas.  Paul and Erin Kernaleguen are dairy farmers and soil consultants near Birch Hills, Saskatchewan, committed to regenerative practices in growing forage for their cattle. They farm with Paul’s Parents, Jos and Brenda. “We were a very conventional dairy operation until 2012 when we started looking at doing some things differently because our weather was super-wet for a couple years.  Our average annual precipitation is about 12 inches of moisture, but we’d had two years in a row with about 40 to 50 inches, which ..read more

Technical Herd Management in the Modern Day.  By Jaclyn Krymowski.  For quite some time now, dairy herd management has been digitalized either partially or fully on most farms. But just like our smartphones, software and other forms of recordkeeping, digitalization continues to evolve. Simple updates, newer versions and straight up new competition in the marketplace keep us on our toes. The more strategies and tools that are developed to track data and interpret results, the more decisions there are to make regarding what technology to use. Today’s Marketplace Today, dairy producers ..read more

Merck Animal Health Introduces SENSEHUB® Dairy Youngstock.   Leading-edge technology provides 24/7 monitoring for better and more labor-efficient calf management.  Article courtesy of Merck Animal Health. RAHWAY, N.J., April 4, 2024 – Merck Animal Health, known as MSD Animal Health outside of the United States and Canada, a division of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA (NYSE:MRK), today announced the introduction of SENSEHUB® Dairy Youngstock, the industry’s first monitoring technology for dairy calves from birth through the first 12 months of life.      New SE ..read more

Remove the guesswork from choosing the best fly control for cattle.   Use these tips to sift through fly control options for cattle on pasture.  Article courtesy of Purina Animal Nutrition LLC Arden Hills, Minn. [March 27, 2024] – Pesky horn flies can become prolific during the grazing season. However, there are control tactics that can help keep horn fly populations under wraps.   When uncontrolled, horn flies can punish cattle with as many as 120,000 bites per day. During peak timeframes, as many as 4,000 horn flies can call a cow’s hide home. At 30 blood meals daily, that ad ..read more

SDSU student Grace Sargent receives Central Plains Dairy Foundation scholarship.  Article and photo courtesy of Central Plains Dairy Foundation.  New Prague, MN (March 29, 2024) – The Central Plains Dairy Foundation (CPDF) awarded its $500 Tonneson Scholarship to Grace Sargent from Pierre, S.D., who is a sophomore studying agricultural communications and agricultural leadership at South Dakota State University (SDSU). Annually, this scholarship goes to a student who has successfully completed at least one semester enrolled in a post-secondary college or university, pursuing a degree ..read more

Farm Custom Rate Survey Shows What Iowans are Charging and Paying in 2024. Newly released survey includes averages and ranges for popular farming tasks in Iowa  Article courtesy of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. AMES, Iowa – Farmers who depend on custom work or provide custom services can review rates charged by others across the state in the latest Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey. The 2024 report was published in the March edition of Ag Decision Maker and includes 130 responses and 2,805 custom rates provided by Iowa farmers, custom operators and farm managers. Farm tasks in ..read more

Fly Control Problems Article courtesy of Central Life Sciences Fly control on a dairy operation can feel like an overwhelming task. There are a number of different areas that need to be treated and maintained to protect your animals, employees, and bottom line. From proper sanitation practices to learning the different fly behaviors at every level of an operation, our team has created a list of the five most common fly control problems and their tailored solutions so that you can protect your operation from disease-spreading fly populations. Problem: Flies in calf hutches Solution: Manure man ..read more