Autonomous farming machines are coming. John Deere now sells an autonomous 8R tractor. Various companies offer large, commercial sized unmanned Ariel vehicles (UAVs) that can autonomously apply pesticides. Lely sells robotic milking machines. Some farmers may lament the loss...
Source: Lactanet Canada
Climate change, caused by the rise of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere, has become a global concern. One GHG in particular has received more attention compared to others: methane (CH4). Why is there such a large...
How ruminant digestion turns byproducts into high-quality nutrition
Given the millions of tons of feed that feed our dairy cows, the question may arise: Why we don’t use that food to feed people instead? This is a reasonable question, with...
Higher costs coupled with higher milk prices still resulted in continued negative economic returns for Illinois dairy producers in 2021, according to figures summarized by the Illinois Farm Business Farm Management Association.
The average net price received per 100 pounds...
Today, we are inundated with a lot of information about different types of milking systems. We have learned how new innovative systems can increase productivity and improve efficiencies. Whether you are considering implementing robotics, or updating your current parlor...
Given the last seven days and the next seven, I am anxious to report on five things happening right now that can affect our daily lives and businesses. As I’ve mentioned several times in the past, a lot of...
Many conversations around animal agriculture and the environment focus on the relationship between carbon and cows. However, nitrogen, which is present on farms from the livestock feed to soil to dairy excrement, is of equal concern. Dairy farmers’ management...
When you’ve milked in a parlor for over 25 years, the idea of adopting robots can be daunting. From the thought of re-training your cows, learning new technology, and to be frank, re-training your people – ensuring you’ve covered...
Scientists agree we are likely to continue to see climate change impacts for the foreseeable future. This will likely include hotter summers, more extreme rain events, and droughts. These conditions are making an already challenging job more difficult to...
Source: National Milk Producers Federation news release
It was the fundamental fallacy that launched a thousand news articles: Dairy was dying as consumers were switching to plant-based beverages.
That was always a lie -- but at least from a certain angle,...
