by Edith Tucker
HOPKINTON, NH – Members of the Robertson family on the 440-acre Bohanan Farm, only 10 miles from the State House in Concord, worked for nearly a decade to raise the money to develop the Contoocook Creamery, a small business where they pasteurize, bottle and market the milk made exclusively from their own cows. (more…)
Part 2: Clean colostrum and feeding goals
by Sally Colby
The long-term goal of a colostrum management program on any farm should be raising healthy and well-grown heifers that calve between 22 and 24 months of age and at 85% of mature body weight. (more…)
by Catie Joyce-Bulay
“I like to think of it as ‘the smell of the flower will draw in the bee,’” said Matt LeRoux, describing the importance of creating an identity for your farm business. “We’re not going to survive, especially small farms, if we don’t have an identity. This identity will draw in your target customer.” (more…)
by Enrico Villamaino
The current worldwide pandemic and its consequent economic shutdown are having dire effects on the dairy industry. (more…)
by Tamara Scully
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, dairy farmers are facing the hardship and heartbreak of seeing their milk dumped into manure pits and onto fields as processors are caught with excess supplies. Food service demand for fluid milk and milk products has plummeted amid mass closures of schools, restaurants and corporate cafeterias. The International Dairy Foods Association and the National Milk Producers Federation estimate that supply currently outpaces demand by about 10%. (more…)
by Courtney Llewellyn
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) hosted a short webinar on May 14 for farmers, ranchers and other producers interested in applying for direct payments through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). (more…)
by Edith Tucker
LYME, NH – Arend Tensen and his son Arend Jacob “AJ” Tensen happily accepted a plaque from U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan that designates Tensen Farms as a “New Hampshire Farm of Distinction.” (more…)
by Laura Rodley
When Anne Diemand Bucci of Diemand Farm in Wendell, MA, makes a batch of TV dinners made of their farm-raised turkeys and chickens to sell at their farm store, it usually lasts six weeks.
Since the COVID-19 crisis news began hitting the airwaves, “things have been going like crazy,” she said. “Two weeks ago, my daughter posted a picture of a turkey TV dinner on the Facebook page and they were gone in less than two days. People kept coming, saying ‘We saw the picture’” – but they were already sold out. (more…)
by Katie Navarra
Feed contamination such as molds and mycotoxins can impact animal health and productivity for livestock and poultry. Given that feed costs account for nearly 70% of production costs, maintaining quality in total mixed rations (TMR) should be a priority. (more…)
by Tamara Scully
Aside from the threat to human health due to COVID-19, the virus is wreaking havoc on supply chains everywhere. Consumer demand for meat, as well as produce and other foodstuff, is high as people isolate at home, and panic buying has become the norm. (more…)
by Sally Colby
As if farmers don’t have enough stress, numerous current events in world and in the ag community have led to additional stress and insecurity about the future. Ted Matthews, psychologist and director of Minnesota Rural Mental Health, said when he worked for FEMA, he never received any calls from farmers. He learned the reason is that farmers simply don’t call psychologists. (more…)
by Katie Navarra
Raising calves in single hutches has become standard on dairy farms across the United States for both reducing the spread of disease and ease of handling. However, an increasing number of dairy producers and calf raisers are transitioning to pair or group housing for improved calf development, growth and welfare. (more…)
