See All Dairy
Find educational material about dairy cattle, including nutrition and feed management, health and care, reproduction, facilities and technology, and business management from Penn State Extension.
- Articles
Financing a Dairy Farm Modernization: What Your Banker Wants to Know
For major renovations or expansions, a lender will want a comprehensive financial plan that proves the farm's past profitability and justifies the expansion for further profits down the road. - Articles
Four Common Dairy Business Oversights Using QuickBooks™
Tips to help you get the most out of your financial records. - Tools and Apps
Nitrate Calculator Spreadsheet
Automates calculation of nitrate intake from feed and water, suggests ways to limit nitrate intake, and converts expressions of nitrate concentration. - Articles
The Importance of Understanding Your Tax Information
It is important to be "in the know" about your business's financial management. - Articles
Time-saving Tips for Record Keeping With QuickBooks™
Time is the one resource that is continually in short demand, especially when it comes to managing financial records. QuickBooks™ can help make book-keeping easy and efficient. - Articles
Farm Biosecurity: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)
The recent outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) have left many farms in a dire situation. Use readily available resources to help you develop a farm emergency plan. - Articles
Dairy Sense: Precision Feeding's Positive Environmental Impact
Nutritionists have adjusted rations for protein and phosphorus over the years to benefit the environment, animal performance and improve profitability. - Articles
Dairy Sense: What Is Soil Health?
Soil health affects soil fertility and production potential, which affects crop yields, quality, and production costs. - Articles
Dairy Sense: The Value of Optimizing Heat Abatement
The short-term duration of hot weather can have long-term ramifications to total milk pounds for the year, components, reproduction, and milk income. - Articles
Restraint and Treatment Facilities for Dairy Animals
Dairy animals must periodically be isolated and restrained for vaccinations, breeding, and examinations. Well-designed restraint facilities promote good calf, heifer, and cow care. - Articles
Interpretation of Milk Urea Nitrogen (MUN) Values
MUN is a breakdown product of protein and it can be used to monitor protein status of cows. - Articles
Feed Inventory for the Dairy Herd: Planning for Shortages
This article is designed to assist the dairy producer in determining if on-farm forages will meet the herd's fiber, energy, and protein requirements. - Articles
Feed Management: Phosphorus Levels in Component-Fed Herds
Herds with lactating dairy cattle exceeding fecal phosphorus levels from 0.55 to 0.80% on a dry matter basis have opportunity for improvement. - Articles
Dairy Sense: Troubleshooting Low Milk Production
Experience has shown that there is normally not just one area that is causing low milk production or performance. It is usually multifaceted. - Articles
Don't Let Floor Resurfacing Slip Your Mind
Good footing is essential to the health and performance of dairy cattle, especially in areas of high traffic. - Articles
Dairy Sense: Small Grain Silage for the Lactating Herd
Double cropping corn silage acres with a small grain is a strategy that provides additional forage inventory and maintains cover on fields. - Articles
Dairy Sense: Sustainability of Component Fed Herds
According to the 2017 National Agricultural Statistics Service the average number of milking cows is 76. - Articles
Dairy Sense: Reviewing the DHIA 202 Sheet
Records and data are commonplace when operating a dairy. The Dairy Herd Information Association (DHIA) provides both a holistic and current overview of what is happening with the cows. - Articles
Dairy Sense: More Sugar, Please
Adding sugar to the ration can complement many diets and takes the pressure off starch as the only energy source used to maintain production and components. - Articles
Dairy Sense: Keeping the Dairy Right Sized
Regardless of the dairy's herd size, there is one key theme that applies to everyone, a land base that matches the number of cows and heifers in the herd. - Articles
Dairy Sense: Heat Stress Aftermath
Heat stress can impact animal performance weeks beyond the initial occurrence, lingering in the fresh cow period and ultimately affect overall production. - Articles
Dairy Sense: Getting Those Extra Pounds of Milk
Focus on the first 100 days of lactation to find and fix bottlenecks that are limiting milk production. - Articles
Dairy Sense: Getting Lost in the Minutiae
Trouble shooting herd problems can be very challenging and difficult. Take the big picture approach to solving problems. - Articles
Dairy Sense: Facing Financial Angst
A good record keeping system and chart of accounts goes a long way to empower producers to take the first step in learning their breakeven cost of production. - Tools and Apps
Colostrometer Adjustment Spreadsheet
Adjust readings from a colostrometer to provide the value expected if colostrum was tested at 68°F.
