Latest News From Maureen Hanson

The agricultural headlines of 2023 have issued a steady drumbeat of drought – particularly in the Corn Belt, where so much U.S. livestock feed is grown. But just how bad was it?

From the Mississippi River to the Panama Canal, this year’s drought has resulted in low water levels that are likely to disrupt agricultural production and trade through at least the end of the year.

Meetings are an inevitable element of business, but they can be a boon or a bore, depending on how they are run.

Access to livestock drugs through over-the-counter (OTC) channels was curbed considerably starting in 2017. Soon, OTC antibiotics may no longer be available through traditional channels at all.

Farmland currently appears to be something akin to a modern-day gold rush. It can’t be bought up fast enough, while per-acre prices fetched for recent sales set record high after record high.

There are a range of efforts underway worldwide to curb methane production by cattle.

Can you imagine what the industry will look like in the next 50 years?

Breakdowns in the global supply chain are hitting home for U.S. livestock producers and the veterinarians who serve them, in the form of shortages of commonly used medications.

It may sound like the title of a middle-school science fair project, but the CowToilet is a real invention, and may soon be operating on commercial dairies around the world.

If you are prone to occasional – or even not-so-occasional – procrastination, are you lazy, incompetent, and unreliable?

When it comes to forage and cover crops, winter rye offers rock-star versatility that makes it easy to love.

A record 4.3 million people quit their jobs in the United States in August 2021, a historic high that has far-reaching effects on American life in general, and agriculture specifically

Harvesting and storing high-moisture corn can help producers get a jump on harvest; avoid drying costs; and put up a highly palatable, digestible, nutritious feedstuff.

Health insurance coverage and healthcare costs are among the greatest challenges for self-employed Americans, including farmers.

The common industry practice of feeding first-day colostrum and then switching calves directly to whole milk or milk replacer may be under review.

Just because a heifer can get pregnant to calve at 21 months doesn’t necessarily mean she should be bred that early.

One of the “normal” elements of this highly abnormal time is the fact that hay-making season soon will commence throughout most of the country.

Breeding a subset of the dairy herd to beef sires is a growing trend in the U.S. dairy business.

Calves coming down with illness often are very good at masking their symptoms in the early stages.

Simply producing a black calf if not enough if the dairy industry wants to make permanent inroads into successful crossbreeding.

Protecting young calves from winter’s cold and drafts may be done with the best of intentions, but unfortunately it can lead to negative consequences.

A convenient and in-depth virtual course on forage management is being offered by Cornell University.

After incurring the investment to raise a heifer to freshening age, a difficult calving is the last thing you want as she attempts to enter the milking string.

Aggressively consuming dry feeds is the gateway to healthy weaning for young dairy calves.

Flies are more than just an annoyance for calves in warm weather. High fly populations also can spread diseases among calves; cause stress and reduced immunity; and negatively impact growth and weight gain.

Second only to feed costs, labor is a significant expense for most dairy farms. At the same time, managing labor requires a considerable time investment for dairy owners. 

Bloody scours in calves is never a welcome sight, but diagnosing the source can help with treatment and preventing future cases.

As more farms adopt automatic feeders and group housing to raise their preweaned calves, more, too, is being understood about the factors that impact calf health in such rearing systems.