by Sonja Heyck-Merlin
Joe Lawrence is a dairy forage systems specialist at Cornell’s PRO-DAIRY, in charge of
implementing the annual Commercial Corn Silage Hybrid Testing Program in New York in collaboration with Heather Darby of the University of Vermont. (more…)
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin
“There’s not a lot of recent research information on pasturing hogs,” said David Hartman of Penn State, where he works as a livestock Extension educator. “This is because over the last few decades, the swine industry has become more consolidated with much more production in confinement systems, and not nearly as much pasture.” Use of forages for hogs diminished in the early 1950s when synthetic vitamins became widely available. Prior to that, hogs needed access to some pasture to obtain those vitamins. (more…)
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
For many farmers, tackling social media seems like another chore on an endless list of things to do. But Amanda Basse, business coach in Providence, RI, wants more farm businesses to use social media, and use it well. She presented “Best Practices for Social Media Ads and Promotions” as a recent webinar. (more…)
by Hannah Majewski
June is National Dairy Month, and that includes more than just the cows. Hickory Nut Farm is doing its part for the dairy industry on their dairy goat farm. (more…)
by Sally Colby
The time spent planning for the ideal heifer calf to add to the milking string may be wasted if she isn’t properly immunized. The act of vaccinating an animal doesn’t guarantee she’s immunized or protected from disease. Good immunization is the result of proper vaccine handling from the time products arrive on the farm until they’re administered.
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Many people rely upon their employer-sponsored health insurance plan. Farmers operating their own businesses do not have that option. MidAtlantic Women in Agriculture recently presented “Health Insurance Options for Farmers and Small Business Owners” as a webinar led by Maria Pippidis, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, and Jesse Ketterman, University of Maryland Extension. (more…)
by Sally Colby
Cattlemen have benefited from the development of anthelmintic products that keep stomach and intestinal worms at bay. But the easy availability and relatively low cost of products has led to cattle being dewormed without any parameters other than “we deworm calves at weaning” or “cows are treated when they go to pasture, and get an extra dose if the weather is damp.” (more…)
by Courtney Llewellyn
If you sell things, you want to make money. You also want to offer your customers as many avenues as possible to spend their money. There are more options than just cash available today, and that’s a good thing, because fewer and fewer people carry it. (more…)
by Sally Colby
Chris DuBois said 2020 was one of the biggest science experiments of modern times. (more…)
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “comfort” is defined as a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint. “Put the word cow in front of that and this is what we’re trying to achieve when it comes to cow comfort,” said Dan McFarland, an ag engineer with Penn State Extension. (more…)
by Courtney Llewellyn
It’s no secret that dairy farms use a lot of energy. Luckily, as technology advances, so do the opportunities for energy efficiency. A group of experts discussed the topic during a Farm Energy Day virtual presentation from Penn State Extension. (more…)
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
For many reasons, it’s important for women to understand estate planning. Statistically, women outlive men by five years, according to the CDC. Relying solely on a husband’s estate planning is not practical, as situations may change in those five or more years. More women own assets in their names alone and operate businesses independently of another person. And many farm women want to pass down their ag businesses to the next generation or see that their assets go to the causes they support. (more…)
