Dairy Farming Facts

It will be interesting to see how they do this year. In the early 1980s, there was a series of articles in “Hoard's Dairyman” written by a New York State dairy farmer named Richard Triumpho about his visit to New Zealand and their method of intensive...

Want to know more about your breed options? Download a copy of Sue Weaver's Dairy Goat Breed Information Chart for all the details about the miniature and full-sized dairy goats that work best for the hobby farm.

The south end was done a couple of years ago, so this year it was the west side and the north end. Summer work was done.haylage - Hay that is allowed to wilt but not dry and is then chopped and stored in a silo, pile or plastic 'ag' bag and allowed to...

By sowing leguminous cover crops, then working them into the soil prior to growing season, not only are you getting that nitrogen fixation but also biomass, which is good for creating humus and retaining nutrients.

While the online workbook does not provide the same interaction as the hands-on workshop, it provides a framework for beginners to think about a dairy farming or processing operation.

Treating Your Goat Herd If caught early enough, mastitis can be cured, but it varies case by case. In some cases, the affected half will need to be dried off, which requires limiting the doe's grain intake and holding off on water for up to 12 hours.

About the Authors: Sharon Biggs Waller is an award-winning writer and author of Advanced English Riding (BowTie Press, 2007). Many dairy goat producers do not allow nursing. Overfeeding hay, however, can reduce concentrate intake, which is needed more...

On my farm, the boundaries are clearly marked by mature trees (and also by rock piles left over from clearing the fields), so finding the original edges of the fields is the easy part.

Most approved products will add “OMRI Certified” to the label, but some won't. Certifiers do not call this compost, but rather “ manure .” Regardless, if you get in the habit of following those rules now it will help when you go for certification.

Plugging into an inlet, which allows electricity to bypass the breakers and prevents wires from overheating, can also damage sensitive appliances and the house's electricity. Carbon monoxide is a silent killer that can strike when you run any generator...

Barefoot runners become adept at landing gently, strengthen small muscles in their ankles and feet, and stay mindful of hazards, sharpening their minds as they tone their bodies. Think about choosing the clothing for a farm job by considering what the...

Either way, the land and your plants will be better for it. In the meantime, they absorb and release moisture throughout the season. Examine your landscape for the placement of run-off water retention structures, such as pools and swales.

While this has a heavier impact on soil than the broadfork, it doesn't compare to the damage to soil structure and microoganisms performed by mechanized equipment. Sickle Cetha/Pixabay A sickle is used for tasks similar to ones requiring a scythe—harvesting...

Most of the world's estimated 800-million urban farmers fall into this category. Subsistence farmer: Grows to make a living, choosing crops or livestock to meet his or her own food needs or high-value items that can be sold profitably to others, whether...

The samples were analyzed for 13 common water-quality parameters that are part of the lab's basic livestock water-testing package. “Penn State Extension encourages farmers with water-quality issues to install water meters to evaluate the herd's water-consumption...

Plus, reloading the staples is as easy as opening the unit and sliding a new row of staples into place. Here are five reasons why everyone needs a staple gun. This makes it simple to use because you can just grab it and get to work—no need to hunt for...

Experimenting with several pieces of right-angle steel strap I had picked up for reinforcing corners, I found I could screw them loosely to the ridgepole. When I lifted the panels to their closed positions, they easily swiveled into place.

Of course, one of the joys of looking for a tool when you live in the country is to use it as an excuse to attend farm auctions. If it's the craftsman tool you seek, visit the wide variety of companies online.

Choosing among the many sprayer options can be confounding, and an ever-expanding offering of sprayer types, sizes and component parts is making selection more complicated every year.

Hay Wagons While not exactly a “tool” in the truest sense of the word (they're more like a large accessory), it sure would be hard to move square hay bales without a large wagon, wouldn't it?

Gloves You'll definitely want to wear a pair of tough gloves when trimming trees, as they help protect your hands from blisters, scratches and cuts. You never know when a tangle of branches might spring toward your face, and if you're not paying enough...

As an example, I previously mentioned a company called Bad Axe Tool Works . The owner makes heirloom quality saws. That said, I have a building permit for a small cabin this spring.

Allow me to explain. As an example, I recently got creative with an apple picker. Snow is surprisingly heavy, particularly when it's wet from melting on a warm day. As it turned out, the handiest tool was a very long apple picker.

You might be familiar with measuring wheels on a smaller scale. More importantly, a large wheel isn't affected as much by dips and rises in the ground—it can more easily ride over them, resulting in more accurate measurements than those of small wheels,...

Wire cutters are a small tool, about the size of pliers, which lets you use them with one hand, while bolt cutters are significantly larger (more like the size of pruning loppers) and designed to cut through correspondingly larger pieces of metal.

I don't do mortise and tenons. I will also buy other old tools, like the block plane, broadaxe and a few other things I picked up at antique/used stuff stores I visited this past weekend.

The job seemed simple enough. Only then did I notice a spot about 15 feet up. Gravity still rules, but when using a chainsaw in dense woods, always expect the unexpected. I then made a high cut from the other side, angling down to a point just above the...