Tafels combine cow comfort with no-grain feeding Laurens, New York — Adam and Margaret Tafel do a lot of things that are considered good practices in the conventional dairy world. They work hard at harvesting quality forages. They try to keep their cows comfortable in freestalls and tunnel ventilation. They watch body condition and feed […]
By Allen Williams, Ph.D. The grassfed beef sector has expanded rapidly over the past decade, ballooning from less than $40 million in domestic retail sales value in 2005 to $550 million in 2015. Annual sales growth of grassfed beef averaged 25-30% over the period. Interest in “100% grassfed” dairy is also taking off, with the […]
By Paul and Phyllis Van Amburgh Sharon Springs, New York — We like to say we don’t suffer from an agricultural education. Paul was a builder and Phyllis an occupational therapist prior to our farming lives. We mean no disrespect to agricultural degree programs or the folks who complete them, but we like to make […]
David just thinks A2 and no-grain are the most ‘ethical’ ways to make milk Random Lake, Wisconsin – The future of alternative dairy might well be on display on a small organic farm operated by a maverick 70-year old with a graduate degree in crop chemicals. David Heidel feeds no grain to his dairy animals […]
Peter Gaul and family are making a go of it on the second try Benton, Missouri — It was April 2008. The midwestern heavens were unleashing torrents in record volumes, and Peter Gaul’s newly constructed dairy barn in the Bootheel of southeastern Missouri had become an island in the flooded Mississippi River. Hundreds of acres […]
By Greg Palen The numbers game in dairy genetic selection began when the AI industry switched to frozen, storable semen in the 1960s, thus providing a true choice of sires. This was the beginning of the genetic horse race for the best sires, and the long battle to define the word “best.” Fads came and […]
