Latest News From Livestock

Twelve Wisconsin dairies are in the forefront of safety inspections.

The goal is to have at least 20 producers per state participate to get a more accurate picture of dairy labor rates.

"The withdrawal of the proposal is a victory for common sense," says Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation.

Although the plant itself is not dead, new growth will be delayed. Cutting off damaged plants will hasten recovery.

‘Remember The Milk’ is a powerful online “things to do” list and task management program.

Careful adherence to milking prep protocols is critical; employees must understand why they are.

AUDIE CORNISH: In Kansas, a coalition of conservative farm businessmen and liberal social advocates is pushing for an unusual law, one that would create a state-sanctioned work program benefitting illegal immigrants. Peggy Lowe, of Harvest Public Media, reports that their fiercest opponent is the Kansas politician who wrote Arizona's tough immigration law.PEGGY LOWE: It's a long way from Forget-Me-Not Farms to the Kansas state capitol. But T.J. Curtis drove the 300 miles because he needs more workers for his family's dairy farm in the far western part of the state.

It's doubtful that comprehensive reform will happen this year. But, the possibility of change is increasing.

Exit interviews can give you good incite on how to improve employee management.

On Feb. 24, AgDay will have team coverage of an important issue to animal agriculture—the proposed law on caged hens.

The arrest took John and Anja VerHaar from their four teenaged children and their dairy with no idea when they would return.

Paul Wenger tells congressional committee, “E-Verify without a workable, economical way to ensure a legal agricultural work force will be a disaster for American agriculture.”

Early draft would have banned many youth from working on family farms.

Que hacer cuando recibimos una notificación de “no coincidencia” de un empleado.

Without proper cleaning and sanitation of feeding equipment, disease and illness can quickly spread among calves.

Key to this process is helping workers understand that principal payments on debt and cash for new investments must come first.

Employers should never assume an employee with a reported mismatch is an undocumented immigrant.

You probably won’t like what you hear about employee visas, sponsorships and other immigration status questions.

Issuing units of “phantom stock” is a new twist on an old strategy of deferring compensation.

Attorney Anthony Raimondo wants dairy producers to be clear about employment laws and immigrant labor. “The undocumented worker is not the only one at risk,” he says.

Comments to the proposed changes are due today.

One culture values time and sacrifices relationships. The other fosters relationships over time and productivity.

"This is the United States, and you do still have private property rights." A labor attorney offers insights.

Muchos productores de leche emplean trabajadores de habla hispana.

Value-based tool will help commercial producers select and manage Angus cattle.

Aquila Farms ordered to pay nearly $3 million in penalties.

Tips on I-9 audits offered at Elite Producer Business Conference.

Texas beef producers are exploring the use of whole cotton plants as a protein source for cattle due to extreme drought conditions.

Nov. 9 Webstream and conference call event helps explain the program’s “Know Your Rights: Employee Rights and Responsibilities.”

MIDWAY ? Mike Kohler says he remembers the days on the family dairyfarm in this valley when the harvest was ready and local kids would line up to help bring in the hay and do other chores. Those days of abundant local labor, he said, have disappeared in the last decade, leaving the dairy industry along with sheep herding and goat herding in a lurch when it comes to a dependable labor pool.

All-Season non-marking tires

As shortages of workers have intensified on Henderson County apple orchards and farms across the country, congressional panels have turned their attention toward proposals to fix the problem.

An introduced bill would mandate all employers nationwide to use a federal electronic system.

Dairy group pushes for guest worker program, opposes enforcement-only approach.

Watch a video of "Big Bill" hoisting 20 half-cases of eggs in 60 seconds.

Dustin Stanton, age 18, has grown his farm project of producing eggs to a regional business by connecting with consumers and paying close attention to freshness.

Bill would require all U.S. employers to use E-Verify.

Florida's fruit and vegetable growers say their biggest challenge is ensuring they have enough workers to pick their crops and get them onto grocery shelves."The whole immigration reform issue needs to be addressed at the federal level," said Marie Bedner, whose family owns Bedner's Farm Fresh Market west of Boynton Beach. "In Georgia, they had no labor to pick the crops. They rotted in the field."Two labor experts told Bedner and other growers at the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association's 68th annual meeting Tuesday that if E-Verify becomes mandatory, it would be a disaster for domestic farmers. E-Verify is an electronic system designed to prevent the employment of undocumented workers in the U.S. through a cross-check of Social Security numbers and names.

The proposed legislation by Texas congressman Lamar Smith would create a non-immigrant H–2C work visa program for agricultural workers.

Keys to a highly engaged work force.

Planning key to transition when key Hispanic employees return home.

An Arizona dairy learns firsthand about ‘silent raids.’

Workers will pay more attention to the suggestions of supervisors who notice praiseworthy work.

More states are mandating the use of the employee verification system.

Working supervisors form the communication bridge between owner and workers.

Finding workers has become the number one concern for many local farmers. Tougher immigration laws, local people gravitating to other work, and the lack of an effective guest worker program makes filling the fields with workers more difficult than it was in the past.

New Jersey dairy couple calls the hurricane “the storm of the century.”

It's fun sometimes to be nostalgic about the good old days. And there is much to recommend them. But for the small dairyfarmer, modern innovation can be liberating. Just ask Vernon Horst.

Wisconsin's status as America's Dairyland was built on the hard work and perseverance of generations of family farmers. This industry generates $26.5 billion in economic activity each year and is interconnected with nearly every industry sector in our state. Every dollar of dairy income delivers an additional $1.54 into local communities.

Bill would have enabled unions to bypass elections by urging the majority of a grower’s workers to sign cards.