Overusing antibiotics in human health contributes to resistant strains of bacteria. The same is true for farmers. “Antibiotics, Antibiotic Resistance and Stewardship on the Farm,” a panel presented recently by FACT , shared the dangers of routine use of antibiotics among animals that do not need the...

Rodent control on the farm is an essential aspect of both biosecurity and property damage. Ron Forquer, eastern business manager for Motomco , addressed the topic recently at the Penn State Dairy Nutrition Conference. Rodents carry 45 diseases, 35 of which can be directly or indirectly transmitted t...

In the current winter edition of the Natural Farmer (the newspaper of the Northeast Organic Farming Association ), Erin Buckwalter wrote an article titled “Vermont’s Summer of Flooding.” She noted the catastrophic flash-flooding and river flooding that hit much of Vermont during the first two-thirds...

EAST BEND, NC – In North Carolina’s Piedmont, said Kevin Matthews, “our field sizes and shapes are very inefficient compared to other areas of the U.S. We have a lot of point rows. So we need to be more efficient in our practices. “We want the most bushels on the fewest acres. We realized that years...

Long-term research has provided information regarding the importance of colostrum for newborn calves, and science continues to uncover more subtleties. “Despite decades of research and advances in colostrum management, there’s still a lot to learn,” said veterinarian Dr. Sandra Godden, Department of...

Properly pricing proteins is of paramount importance. According to Brian F. Moyer, an education program associate at Penn State Extension, knowing precisely what the numbers are will make all the difference in plotting out successful meat sales. Moyer specializes in assisting meat producers with dir...

In a Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center presentation, Mark Harmon discussed fire prevention for businesses. Harmon is a compliance assistance specialist with the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The information in his presentation was based o...

Farmer Mac (the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, which serves as a secondary market in ag loans such as mortgages for agricultural real estate and rural housing) puts together an ag lender survey each year to see where those entities stand vis-à-vis their ability to help farmers. A team re...

News flash: Farmers are not beach lifeguards. To begin with, there is a clear complexion comparison (the term “farmer’s tan” didn’t just appear in our lexicon out of nowhere). Another key difference is that once the busy season has passed and winter has arrived, farmers can’t take an “out of sight, ...