HD Notebook

The results are in, and all gasses are accounted for. Yes, today, the industry-supported group, Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, has officially announced the completion of an unprecedented life cycle assessment study that measured all greenhouse gas emissions associated with one gallon of milk. Read more

Last week, I received a newsletter from my local bank giving parents financial tips for their college students. Some of the items were common sense, but, if their children have never had to handle a budget, balance a checkbook, or hold a job, those students could be in for a huge shock. Read more

Despite the higher-than-normal temperatures experienced in many areas, U.S. milk production in August shot up 2.7 percent over a year ago. During August, there was a 2.9 percent rise in milk per cow over last year. That more than offset a 24,000-head (0.26 percent) drop in cow numbers. There was a 9,000-head drop in cow numbers from July. Read more

Rotary milking parlors were invented in the 1920s. The first industrial robot went into operation at a General Motors auto assembly plant in 1961. The microprocessor was invented by Intel in 1971. Robotic milking stalls first appeared on dairies in the early 1990s. Read more

USDA's forecast milk production for 2010 and 2011 was raised from last month in the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates released late last week. Producers continue to add cows to their herds, and the national dairy herd is expected to increase into mid-2011. The rate of growth in milk per cow also is expected to be higher than earlier thought. Read more

In my elementary school years, one of my favorite days each year was our small parochial school's track meet held every spring. Besides the fun I had spending the day outside with classmates, I always looked forward to the special treat my mom let me get that day: a sports drink. It usually had some sort of name like "Turbo-charge!" or "Endure!" and was colored either neon yellow or blue. Read more

Over 600 people came to Knigge Farms of Omro, Wis., to celebrate the 10th anniversary of robotic milking in the United States. It was in August 2000 that Pete and Theo Knigge, and their son, Charlie, installed a pair of A2, Astronaut robots in their new free stall barn. This May, just three months short of the 10-year anniversary, the Knigges installed the latest Lely robots, the Astronaut A3. Read more

This is one of my favorite quotes. Past National Holstein Association president and dairy producer Doug Maddox of California encourages adults to see the value in giving a young person the chance to work with “their very own” animal. Read more

Slowly, but surely, modest profitability is returning for U.S. dairy producers. Even so, few are relaxing just yet. Read more

Recently released dairy product consumption figures for 2009 are encouraging. Looking at consumption on a per-person or per-capita basis always is informative, because that accounts for changes in the population. Last year, there was per-capita growth in consumption of all products on a milk-equivalent, milk-fat basis. The total was 611 pounds per person, highest in many decades. Read more