Allyson Jones-Brimmer is the Director of Industry Relations for the Animal Agriculture Alliance, and was once a member of the Western Equestrian Team at Cornell University. She spoke recently at Penn-Ag Poultry Council’s Annual Meat and Egg Meeting about the title topic. “We were formed over 30 year...

With the introduction of 2019, thoughts about the title topic are inevitable, and questions about it even more so, and on many fronts. The answer to the question about what is the value of agriculture in Pennsylvania is “about 135 billion dollars,” according to PDA Deputy Secretary Greg Hostetter, w...

Heather Darby, agronomist with the University of Vermont, and Sarah Flack, grass-based livestock consultant, have been conducting research into the challenges and successes of 100 percent grass-based organic dairy farmers. Their ongoing research began in 2016, when the total number of 100 percent gr...

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have been exploring the use of kelp supplementation in milking cows. A survey conducted in the Northeast showed that 59 percentage of organic dairy producers are using kelp, either supplementing the ration with two to four ounces, or sometimes making it...

When Lely introduced the first robotic milking system in Holland in 1992, the focus was on proving the technology had potential for long-term solutions. As more farmers adopted the technology, the focus switched to refining the design and increasing reliability. Today, the main focus is on the cow. ...

For those not involved in farming, January may seem like an off time of the year for farmers. But there’s plenty of work for farmers during winter, and their days are filled with tasks such as planning crops, ordering seed, repairing equipment and meeting the challenges of caring for livestock in co...

For the second time in as many years, President Donald J. Trump addressed the annual gathering of the nation’s largest farm group, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF). This year, the event took place in New Orleans, LA, from Jan. 11 – 16. It was fitting, Trump noted, for New Orleans to host t...

County fair queens are a familiar sight, moving with their courts through crowds of fair-goers, smiling, waving and representing their realms. Dairy princesses do the same, representing milk producers in their areas. But what about those who want to share their love of agriculture as a whole? That’s...

One of the five labs that I work with provides small plastic-lined paper bags for their customers to put their soil samples in. The person submitting the soil for analysis fills out the field’s and farm’s specifics on one side of the bag. On another side of the bag there’s a sales pitch: “Test — don...