Progressive Dairy - Articles - Page 28

Carbon intensity in dairy: Measuring and managing for a greener future

Carbon intensity is a metric that puts all greenhouse gas emissions associated with an activity in terms of the amount of product generated. Knowing the carbon intensity of producing milk should be as familiar as knowing the herd's somatic cell count.

June 27, 2024

Bryan Stolzenburg

Just as financial indexes are used to gauge the overall health of an economy, many different metrics exist to express the relative impact of certain activities on the health of our climate.

Vermont farms work to reach ambitious carbon goals

Four Girls Dairy and Gervais Family Farms join Ben & Jerry’s in their Low Carbon Dairy pilot program to reduce emissions by 50% and increase farm resilience.

June 26, 2024

Jenn Coyne

Gervais Family Farms and Peter Rainville’s Four Girls Dairy are two of seven dairy farms in the U.S. participating in the multiyear pilot program aimed to reduce on-farm emissions by 50% from a 2015 climate baseline.

Dairy risk management calendar: July 2024

Progressive Dairy provides monthly online updates of important dates, reports and advice affecting risk management decisions.

June 25, 2024

Jenn Coyne

Margins appear encouraging with the recent swell in Class III prices and improved feed costs. Cheese exports to Mexico have also been critical for U.S. dairy producers as shipments to China and Southeast Asia have slowed. Yet, with extreme weather conditions and the continued spread of avian influenza, having a strategy to manage risk is essential.

May dairy cows culled for beef lowest since 2016

Dairy cull cows marketed through U.S. slaughter plants lowest May total since 2016.

June 24, 2024

Audrey Schmitz

Dairy cull cows marketed through U.S. slaughter plants lowest since May 2016.

Milk production decreases in USDA May estimates

With leap day adjustments, U.S. milk production has now declined for 10 consecutive months compared to the same months a year earlier.

June 24, 2024

Audrey Schmitz

Led by New Mexico, California, Georgia, Arizona and Kansas, 16 states reduced May 2024 milk production a combined 237 million pounds compared to the same month a year ago.

Carbon accounting opportunities for any size farm

Historically, only larger farms have had access to carbon credit development as a net source of revenue. However, with a changing regulatory landscape, opportunities for new project types – particularly for smaller farms – are arising to meet the demand for reductions within the supply chain.

June 24, 2024

Lauren Brown

To dairy farmers, carbon credits, or offsets, are best known in association with anaerobic digestion. These projects require big farms with significant amounts of manure and plenty of capital, resulting in credits sold to buyers outside of the dairy or even the food and beverage industries.

July 2024 Class I base price rises to 19-month high

June 21, 2024

Dave Natzke

The Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) advanced Class I base price continues to rise, and there’s a change in the Class I mover formula impact, albeit small.

[Podcast] EPA/DHA Omega-3 and Reproduction

June 21, 2024

In this session with Virtus, Western Sales Manager Renee Smith shares the impact that feeding adequate levels of essential fatty acids have on embryo development and retention. Listen in to learn how feeding EPA/DHA for greater reproductive efficiency is working in breeding heifers, in IVF programs, and in lactating herds as well.