Livestock & Dairy
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by Corey Hayes and Peggy Murray Have you ever heard the old saying “Go big or go home”? Usually it is referencing taking on a new challenge in someone’s life or a business adventure, implying that someone should take a leap of faith and see where it takes them. The dairy industry is no strangers to…
Read Moreby John J. Hanchar INTRODUCTION Economic efficiency is the ability to realize a favorable relationship between input use and output based upon economic measures such as the value of production, costs of inputs, and others. Production is economically efficient when goods are produced at minimum cost. Various costs of producing a hundredweight (Cwt.) of milk…
Read Moreby Mariane Kiraly This Farm decided that the upfront cost was less than the return of high quality forages and lower labor needed to complete the harvest. Streamview Dairy has been in business around 30 years. The last five years have brought about some thoughtful changes to the operation to reduce labor, lower feed costs…
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“The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Voltaire In a sheep farming operation that relies on grazing alone without feeding any grain, the pasture is of utmost importance. If the demand is such that the lambs should be finished in a time as short as possible, the pressure is high. I am in that…
Read Moreby Larkin Kimmerer When Ed and Paulie Drexler started dairy farming together right out of college, they received a piece of advice from a professor at Cornell University: if you are going to put all your eggs in one basket, you’d better make sure it has a strong handle. Thirty-seven years and a few broken…
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This article was one of four winning entries in a writing contest sponsored by the New York State Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI). GLCI is led by a Steering Committee of farmers and agricultural professionals to promote the wise use of private grazing lands, and is funded by the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. Our family…
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In past decades it was common wisdom to lamb in the barn during the winter months in January and February. It was heavily promoted as the right thing to do. The wisdom was that farmers had time to give their flock the attention they needed during winter months, before the busy spring planting season arrived.…
Read MoreThis article was one of four winning entries in a writing contest sponsored by the New York State Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI). GLCI is led by a Steering Committee of farmers and agricultural professionals to promote the wise use of private grazing lands, and is funded by the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. I care…
Read MoreThis article was one of four winning entries in a writing contest sponsored by the New York State Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI). GLCI is led by a Steering Committee of farmers and agricultural professionals to promote the wise use of private grazing lands, and is funded by the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. It was…
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When planning to profit from an agricultural activity like selling raw milk, farmers often fail to take seriously the risks of regulatory non-compliance. Meteorological or market risks figure far more prominently in the minds of farmers everywhere. Yet the business of food production, and dairy in particular, is one of the most highly regulated industries…
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