Dairy Excel

Recognizing stress and depression

As a high school student I worked on a hog farm operated by a good family who was well respected throughout the community. While in college I learned my previous employer had fallen into a deep depression, neglected feeding the animals and considered suicide as a way to cope with the low hog prices and [...]

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Alternatives for dealing with down cycle

Most dairy farm businesses are not cash flowing. Some may be if they priced first half milk production using futures or options contracts when the early 2009 prices were trading considerably higher than they are now. No sense in kicking yourself if you didn’t do that, just deal with what is. Protecting your equity and [...]

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It’s time to get with the times

It’s the 1970s. An air-dried Polaroid shows your leisure suit and platform shoes, just before you hop into your pickup and check the CB for friends talking skip. At home, you play a new video game called Pong but don’t know anything about computers. Radio Shack’s ad on the sports page says you need one. [...]

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Dairy farms are in the limbo line

If you have ever taken a small child to a roller skating party, sooner or later some energetic teenagers corral the troops and organize them into a long line to do the limbo. While two kids hold onto either end of a long stick, each child tries to skate under the stick while bending backwards. [...]

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Ohio crop Enterprise Budget updates

Newly updated Enterprise Budgets for 2009 have been completed and posted to the Farm Management Web site of the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics. Web site Updated Enterprise Budgets can be viewed and downloaded from http://aede.osu.edu/Programs/FarmManagement/Budgets/. Recent changes in fertilizer costs and crop prices have changed the profitability outlook for field crops in [...]

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Ohio’s minimum wage rate increased

A quick look at a few business-related topics this month. The first of the year brought an increase in Ohio’s minimum wage rate. For most dairy businesses this will mean an increase for employees that were working at the previous rate of $7 per hour. Adjust wages Ohio employers need to adjust wages for hourly [...]

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Your animals on welfare

By the time you read this column, the reality of the current dairy economics will be hitting you like a brick. The January Class III price has been announced at $10.78/cwt, a drop of $4.50/cwt from the December 2008 prices. The blend price in Federal Order 33 in January will average about $14/cwt, depending your [...]

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In cold, calves need nutrients to grow

No time like the present to talk about feeding calves in cold weather. While the feeder puts on more clothes to help them stay warm, the “layers” of clothing our calves can put on to help them stay warm is nutritional. Yes, a calf coat or blanket of some sort can help a calf maintain [...]

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Workshop covers milk price outlook

Hello northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania dairy farmers. The financial crisis has hit our country with a resounding thud. Sadly, it looks like a rough year is ahead for our dairy industry, as the projections for the upcoming year’s milk prices are bleak. It is no secret that 2009 will be a tight year — [...]

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It’s year-end tax planning time

Can’t put it off any longer … it’s year-end tax planning time. “One’s tax management goal should be maximizing after-tax income or wealth over time, not minimizing taxes in any one year.” A sound piece of advice from Purdue University Extension Ag Economist George Patrick. This can be a tough one that requires looking past [...]

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It’s time to start listening to each other

Dairy farmers are often advised that listening to their cows is a valuable management tool. Working with dairy youth programs, I remind myself of the same logic when it comes to kids, parents and volunteers. If I hope to plan programs that are progressive and useful, time should be set aside to listen to the [...]

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Here’s where to look when you need information

A brain teaser is meant to challenge or stimulate. So, the Dairy Brain Teaser is used to stimulate our thinking and provide some valuable information about the dairy industry and about management of dairy enterprises. You will find the correct answers at the end of the article and use the scale provided to relate to [...]

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You don’t want to miss this workshop

Hello northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania dairy farmers. Ohio State University Extension in Ashtabula County will hold a milk marketing workshop from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Nov. 25 at the Williamsfield Community Center in southern Ashtabula County. This workshop, New Tools for the Dairy Farm Manager — Managing your Margin and Profits with MILC-2008 [...]

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Dairy ride getting wilder by the minute

I recall just a few months ago when the whole cottonseed market jumped above $250 per ton. I received numerous phone calls and e-mails requesting help on how to deal “with these obscene cottonseed prices.” I imagine that most dairy producers wouldn’t mind still paying $250 per ton for whole cottonseed. But the rapid changes [...]

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Dairy judging: What you should know

About 9:30 p.m. on Labor Day, 16 4-H and Ohio State University collegiate judges and their coaches drove into the Waterman Dairy at OSU. Dairy judging boot camp had officially ended. Everyone scrambled to locate their luggage and find their vehicles or parents to head home. Some had another two or three hours to drive [...]

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What is holding you back on your farm?

“What is holding you back?” A popular statement five years ago when we first addressed this topic in this column. The seatbelt safety campaign signs can still be found along the roads of rural Ohio urging drivers and passengers to buckle up for their safety. But, if we ask that same question of our dairy [...]

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There’s lots to know about the dairy industry

I have decided to use a new format for my contribution to this column — referring to it as the Dairy Brain Teaser. I think the terms “test” or “quiz” often have negative views, causing us to remember our the school days, which may even challenge the memory for a few of us to remember [...]

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Dairy cows blamed for global warming: It’s a lot of warm air

Recently, a letter to the editor of my local newspaper used data from a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization report to argue that eating meat and dairy products contributes significantly to global warming. This claim is based on the estimate that animal agriculture accounts for 18 percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions which [...]

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Use your history to help build the future

Millie, Tillie, and Cindy; Zeller’s cow, Dick’s cow, and Wilford’s cow; Daisy, Penny and Ann. These are the first 10 cows entered in a small “Farmer’s Pocket Ledger” as they calved in late 1967 and 1968. Each entry carefully notes the new calf’s tattoo number, their dam, birthdate, and sire. A progressive herd, nearly all [...]

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Influence of cow behavior on nutrition

The behavior of cows has been studied for many years, but little research has focused on behavior from a nutritional perspective. Research scientists at the University of Guelph and the University of British Columbia recently conducted an experiment to determine how behavior influences nutrition of dairy cattle. Ensuring adequate feeding time and equal access to [...]

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