HD Notebook

The trend has been up for a long time, and yesterday’s much-awaited Crop Production and Grain Stocks reports did nothing to cool the feed-cost fire. Read more

When you're contemplating selections at the grocery store, do you ever stop and consider grabbing an off-brand? After all, its probably exactly the same, right? Read more

What a great kick-off to the 2011 Hoard’s Dairyman Webinar Series. Yesterday’s program was presented by host Mike Hutjens of the University of Illinois. Over 140 people for the inaugural live presentation, and they represented 26 U.S. States, 4 Canadian provinces, and 6 additional foreign countries. Read more

Most people would agree that dehorning cattle not only protects animals from each other, but it also protects employees who work with them. While dehorning, the process of removing horn buds from a calf, has been a long-practiced safety procedure, mounting evidence suggests there are better ways to carry out the practice. Read more

Except for a handful of states primarily in the West, hourly workers across the U.S. aren’t in line to get raises this year. Read more

Late yesterday, National Milk announced that it was nearing its goal for the revised Cooperatives Working Together program that will focus exclusively on export assistance. The new CWT payment rate is 2 cents per hundredweight of milk. The goal was to get participation representing 75 percent of the U.S. milk supply. Read more

Just yesterday, President Barack Obama signed into law the first major overhaul of U.S. food safety infrastructure since 1983. The bill, known as the American Food Safety Modernization Act or S. 510, comes with exemptions protested by major ag groups like Farm Bureau and the National Milk Producer's Federation. Let's also not forget the $1.4 billion price tag it comes with over five years. Read more

Just one hour. That’s all it will take for you to participate in the new Hoard’s Dairyman monthly webinar series starting next Monday, January 10, at noon, central time. And you won’t have to go any further than your computer. The price is just right, too: free! Read more

As a new year begins, we wrap up the 125th anniversary celebration of Hoard’s Dairyman. In our June 2010 issue, we chronicled how Hoard was instrumental in launching many endeavors far beyond his magazine. One such program he helped initiate celebrated its 100th anniversary last year . . . it was a program he called “Experimental Breeding.” Read more

What goes into a “next year’s outlook” prediction? Paying attention all year long this year, talking regularly to producers, studying the economic horizon outside the industry, tracking trends, and decades of experience watching the industry go through its up and downs. Then add a few hunches, a guess or two, and have the guts to say what it all looks like. So here goes: Read more