HD Herdbook

Trying to guess the corn market in the months ahead was among the topics when the financial management team for the Hoard's Dairyman Farm met yesterday. The good news was that our cows just finished eating up the $4.69 per bushel corn that we had contracted for over a year ago. When corn was between $6 and $7, booking corn at $4.69 seemed like a good idea. And, of course, it might have been. Read more

You may have noted that the Hoard's Dairyman Farm has benefited from having a management team that has met regularly over the past 1-1/2 years (February 10, 2010, issue, page 108) and having converted our heifer free stall barn to a bedded pack area for our close-ups (March 10, 2010, issue, page 177). We also tweaked the prefresh ration to reduce sorting. Read more

On Monday, March 15, American Guernsey Association executive secretary, Seth Johnson, was at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm to appraise the Hoard Guernsey herd. Scoring began at 6 a.m. and continued during the ensuing day, Johnson evaluated 64 2-year-olds that received their first-ever score. The 64 first-score cows averaged 79.03 for final score, 80.56 on udders, and 80.17 on feet and legs. Read more

Welcome to our new HD Herdbook blog. This blog relates to activities that are happening at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm with the Guernsey and Jersey herds.