It is never a good thing when milk price falls and feed commodity prices increase. This has been the case for most of 2021. When milk price has managed to increase, feed costs have risen enough to offset it. When feed prices have managed to decrease, the milk price has fallen enough to continue to…
The July 26, USDA Crop Progress report shows that the corn crop across the country is progressing on par with last year and, in general, on par with the five-year average: 79% of the U.S. corn crop is silking, which is the same as last year but slightly above the five-year average of 73%. Pennsylvania,…
In the two and half years I have been working in the Pennsylvania dairy industry, Pennsylvania has lost over 12% of its dairy farms, but the herd size of those remaining has increased by 6% to 89 cows per dairy in 2020. This does not sound like much of a herd size increase, but it…
Over the last 10 to 15 years, “sustainability” has become a hot topic. However, the definition of sustainability may be different depending on the individual asked. A simple definition prior to 15 years ago might have been the ability to maintain something at a certain rate, or for a dairy farmer, sustainability may be the…
May’s U.S. milk production posted a 4.6% year-over-year (YOY) increase to 19.9 bil. pounds. This was the largest YOY growth in nearly 10 years. With the release of the USDA Dairy Products report July 2, we have a full picture of what May dairy product stocks and production looked like because of a near 10-year…
In general, the largest expense on a dairy operation is by far the feed cost. Maybe a grazing herd’s feed costs are lower, but in the Northeast, cows cannot graze year-round and feed cost increases in the winter with grasses dormant and perhaps covered by snow. Unfortunately, commodity prices began to rise last fall and…
My elementary and middle school years spanned the early 1980s to the early 1990s. I always remember how proud I was, as a young kid, to be a dairy farmer’s child when June Dairy Month came around. It was always toward the end of the school year, and I would get to talk to my…
As new COVID-19 cases decline across Pennsylvania and the nation, many states have relaxed or lifted mask mandates and restaurant capacities. On Memorial Day in Pennsylvania, Governor Wolf lifted the restrictions on restaurant capacity, which can now operate at 100% capacity. Mask mandates will remain in effect with some flexibility for individuals or groups of…
Over the last couple decades, our world seems to have gotten a lot smaller. Technological advancements in communications and transportation have brought the world closer together in many ways. I am sure not everyone reading this has a smartphone, but I am positive that more people do than do not. When I first moved to…
With dry weather over most of Pennsylvania in the last week, corn planting across the state took a decent leap towards completion. According to USDA, as of the week ending May 23, 77% of the corn across the Commonwealth is planted with 29% of that emerged. 77% is well ahead of the 5-year average of…
