Livestock

The 2025 Indiana Farm Bureau Book of the Year educates children where the food they eat daily comes from in an informative and fun way.

The policies that impact our daily lives are often shaped at the local level. Yes, state and national policies are very important, but I cannot help but notice that sometimes we lose sight of what’s right in front of us in our communities.

Taking steps to safeguard your tires from harsh winter weather and conditions can help you avoid needing replacement tires come spring.

Though growth in economic activity was generally small, expectations for growth rose moderately across most geographies and sectors across the Federal Reserve Districts.

The 2024 Hay Quality Seminar was hosted by the Indiana Forage Council and Purdue University Extension this fall.

Winners of the Hoosier Hay Contest were announced at the 2024 Hay Quality seminar.

Optimal cow and bull management will produce a uniform calf crop that is born in a 60-day window or less for most commercial herds.

An outbreak of often-fatal epizootic hemorrhagic disease afflicted more than 500 white-tailed deer in Indiana’s Allen, Porter and Wabash counties last summer.

Focusing on comfort and nutrition for a few weeks before and after calving will help dairy cows with a smooth transition into lactation.

The 2024 Fall Meeting of the Dairy Sustainability Alliance emphasized the industry’s collective efforts to meet sustainability targets through the adoption of new technologies, best practices and measurement tools.

There are lots of options to add prebiotics, probiotics and fermented food into a diet that can provide some health benefits.

Illinois and Indiana had the highest amount of agricultural land lost to development in the Midwest over a 20-year period.

Cattle and sheep graze on permanent pasture, cover crops and crop residue on Pasture Grazed Regenerative Farm in northern Illinois.

The Prairie Farms Caves of Faribault Division won a silver award for Grotto 222 Natural Rinded Gouda and a bronze for AmaGorg Gorgonzola at the World Cheese Awards competition.

Cade Bushnell received the Randy Stauffer Stewardship Award, recognizing his farm conservation work through the Precision Conservation Management program.

The general manager of locally-owned ethanol plant was the recipient of the Illinois Corn Growers Association’s Ethanol Award.

George Obernagel of Waterloo was the recipient of the Illinois Corn Growers Association’s top award, The World of Corn.

For the first time since the end of 2019, farmland values in the 7th Federal Reserve District did not see a year-over-year increase.

Nearly every autopsy of Vice President Kamala Harris’s stinging White House defeat begins with some variation of the phrase, “Voters pointed to the rising price of food as their chief concern.”

Carmel High School senior Julia Hohne and sous chef junior Maddie Arroyo finished first in the Junior Chef competition of the 2024 World Food Championships.

Registration is open for the 2025 Indiana Dairy Producers Forum, which will take place Jan 28-29 in French Lick.

Nutrition is a necessary expense that all cattle producers handle to keep their cattle in optimal condition.

The dairy checkoff has launched the Dairy Conservation Navigator, an online resource hub designed to provide farm advisers, stakeholders and conservation professionals with science-based information on sustainable farming practices and technologies.

The dairy checkoff partnered with General Mills to create YoBark, a yogurt-based snack designed to give families a tasty option and expand yogurt’s presence in the snacking category.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service unveiled a new easement option that offers long-term protection of the land and ensures timely transfer of ownership to qualified producers.

This year’s Greater Peoria Farm Show will include a new Kubota Sidekick UTV giveaway and the new University of Illinois Extension seminar series.

The Indiana State Fairgrounds and Event Center announced a new naming rights partnership for its iconic coliseum — now called the Corteva Coliseum.

McDonald’s USA, Lopez Foods and Syngenta North America announced a collaboration that aims to increase feed efficiency and help reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions released per pound of meat produced.

Dairy Management Inc., the planning and management organization that oversees the national dairy checkoff program on behalf of America’s dairy farmers and importers, has posted its 2023 annual report.

Prairie Farms Dairy and its joint venture partner, Hiland Dairy, demonstrated their commitment to quality by winning 33 awards at the annual QCS Purchasing Cooperative Conference in Denver.

A University of Illinois project evaluating liquid dairy waste in childcare centers was among 14 grant recipients through the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.

Fall fieldwork is near completion for Berkeley Boehne after some much-needed rain slowed tillage for some of his fields.

Just west of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway you can find Freshly Dairy — a small, family-owned farm that prides itself in its mouthwatering milk and long product shelf life.

Federal health officials called for more testing of employees on farms with bird flu after a new study showed that some dairy workers had signs of infection, even when they didn’t report feeling sick.

Even amidst the ever-present challenges that are part of farming, we have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.

Activist-driven ballot measures were shot down by voters in Colorado and California on Nov. 5.

Farmer sentiment about the ag economy increased in October ahead of the election, rising 27 points from the month before, according to the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.

Illinois FFA members received prestigious awards for the development of their outstanding projects during the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.

A program designed to teach elementary students about agriculture and connections to the Spanish culture earned the Cambridge FFA Chapter a national award at the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo.

The goal of the Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition is to help support livestock producers in building profitable, sustainable grazing operations.

Fall is a great time to enjoy the fruits of our labor as farmers and to remind us of our many blessings as we approach Thanksgiving. Be sure to give proper thanks to the author of those blessings.

Have you started your holiday decorating? I did see some cute ornaments to make using scrap wool felt. I have a bunch of scraps from the felted coasters I made using my Scottish blackface wool.

Voters chose to send Donald Trump, who served his first term as U.S. president from 2016 to 2020, back to the White House in the Nov. 5 national election.

As farmers and ranchers, our work is never just about getting the job done, but looking for the best practices and embracing innovation for whatever challenges may lie ahead.

Cabbages are not exactly the typical big university landscaping, but at Northern Illinois University, cabbages — and other vegetables, fruits and herbs — are the first step in what could be a food revolution.

Chef Bryan Flower hurries toward one of the raised “free-to-pick” vegetable, flower and herb beds that flank Neptune North residence and dining hall on the Northern Illinois University campus in DeKalb.

The best option for adding sheep or goats to an operation is to purchase from a reputable breeder.

The annual National Milk Producers Federation Dairy Product Judging Contest recently wrapped up and it was a successful year for Prairie Farms Dairy.

The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Program released Environmental Stewardship Version 3 supporting the dairy community’s efforts to achieve greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050.

The Illinois Grazing Lands Coalition announced the continuation of its free Pasture Walk series for livestock producers, with upcoming fall dates planned across the state.