A dairy is a facility for the extraction and processing of animal milk (mostly from cows, sometimes from buffalo, sheep or goats) and other farm animals, for human consumption. A dairy farm produces milk and a dairy factory processes it into a variety of dairy products.
(In New Zealand English the word "dairy" means a corner shop, and "dairy factory" is the term for what is elsewhere a dairy).
History
People milked cows by hand, in some countries small numbers of cows are still milked by hand. Hand-milking is accomplished by grasping the teats (tits) in the hand and expressing milk by either squeezing the fingers, progressively, from the udder end to the tip or by squeezing the teat between thumb and index finger then moving the hand downward from udder towards the end of the teat. And repeat using both hands for speed. Both methods result in the milk that was trapped in the milk duct being squirted out the end into a bucket that is supported between the knees (or rests on the ground) of the milker who usually sits on a low stool to accomplish the milking task.
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USDA Agricultural Research ServiceFire Ant Outcompetes Other SpeciesEven in its Native Habitat Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:46:00 -0500
Read the
magazine
story to find out more.
Fire ants have been found to be the most
ecologically dominant species in their environment, according to a new ARS
study. Photo courtesy of Pest and Diseases Image Library,
Bugwood.org.
Nine to 20 individual
fire ant queens started U.S. fire ant population
First virus to infect red
imported fire ants discovered
Red imported fire ant
nemesis gains permanent foothold in Florida
Fire Ant Outcompetes Other SpeciesEven in its
Native Habitat
By Alfredo
Flores
July 2, 2009 Even in its native Argentina, the fire
ant wins in head-to-head competition with other ant species more than
three-quarters of the time, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
scientists.
ARS scientists at the
South
American Biological Control Laboratory (SABCL) in Hurlingham, Argentina,
have been studying how different ant species fare against the fire ant as part
of an effort to learn more about the behavior of this pestan invasive
species in its non-native United States.
Fire ants often attack in swarms--not only causing painful stings to humans,
but can even kill small animals. Little has been known, however, about the fire
ant's competitive nature or how it interacts with other ants.
SABCL biologist Luis Calcaterra, working closely with lab director
Juan
Briano, has been studying interactions between the red imported fire ant,
Solenopsis invicta, and other aboveground foraging ants in two habitats
in northeastern Argentinausing a combination of pitfall traps and baits
to study day-to-day activity in ant communities.
The pitfall trap is a 50 milliliter plastic tube buried in the ground and
half-filled with soapy water. The bait is one gram of canned tuna placed on a
plastic card measuring five centimeters in diameter. The trap and bait gave the
scientists a way to determine ant populations at the sites, and showed the
dominance of each species.
Some 28 ant species coexisted with S. invicta in an open area of
forest growing along a watercourse, whereas only 10 species coexisted with S.
invicta in the dry forest grassland. The researchers found that the fire ants
had the highest numbers in the open forest area along the watercourse.
Prior to these studies, it was thought that the fire antnow
established throughout the Americaswas not dominant in its native land.
But the studies showed that the fire ants were the most ecologically dominant,
winning 78 percent of the interactions with other ants, mostly against its most
frequent competitor, the South American big-headed ant, Pheidole
obscurithorax, an ant of northern Argentina and Paraguay also introduced in
the United States. And in battles with the invasive Argentine ant,
Linepithema humile, the fire ants were even more dominant, winning out
80 percent of the time.
This study was published in Oecologia, a journal
that deals with plant and animal ecology.
Read
more about the research in the July 2009 issue of Agricultural
Research magazine.
ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
New Bait Lures Varroa Mite to its Doom Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:14:00 -0500
Read the
magazine
story to find out more.
ARS scientists have developed
a new bait that may help control varroa mites, the top pest of honey bees.
Click the image for more information about it.
Finding out how genes
govern bees' lives
The latest buzz on Russian
bees
New test on tap for
detecting pesticide-resistant mites
New Bait Lures Varroa Mite to its Doom
By Jan
Suszkiw July 1, 2009
Varroa mites could literally be walking into a trapthanks
to a new attractant developed by Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) scientists in Gainesville, Fla.
The 1/16-inch long parasite, Varroa destructor, is a top pest
of honey bees nationwide, hindering the beneficial insects' ability to
pollinate almonds, blueberries, apples, zucchini and many other flowering
crops.
At the ARS
Chemistry
Research Unit in Gainesville, research leader
Peter
Teal and colleagues are testing a bait-and-kill approach using sticky
boards and natural chemical attractants called semiochemicals.
In nature, Varroa mites rely on these semiochemicals to
locateand then feed onthe bloodlike hemolymph of both adult honey
bees and their brood. Severe infestations can decimate an affected hive within
several monthsand rob the beekeeper of profits from honey or pollinating
services. But in this case, the mites encounter a more heady bouquet of honey
bee odors that lure the parasites away from their intended hosts and onto the
sticky boards, where they starve.
In preliminary tests, 35 to 50 percent of mites dropped off the bees
when exposed to the attractants. Free-roving mites found the semiochemicals
even more attractive, according to Teal.
Moreover, the extra dose of semiochemicals wafting through hives
didn't appear to significantly interfere with the honey bees' normal behavior
or activity, added Teal who, along with postdoctoral associate
Adrian
Duehl and University of Florida
collaborator Mark Carroll, reported the results this past January at the
2009 North American Beekeeping
Conference in Reno, Nev.
The team hopes ARS' patenting of the Varroa mite attractants
will encourage an industrial partner to develop the technology further.
Read more
about the research in the July 2009 issue of Agricultural Research
magazine.
ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Spraying Herbicide on Invasive Weeds Doesn't Always Pay Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:52:00 -0500
It may not always pay for
ranchers to use herbicides to kill exotic invasive weeds on the range,
according to a new study. Click the image for more information about
it.
Knowing where to look for
invasive leafy spurge
Seeded pastures can
sustain cattle-and native rangelands
USDA Livestock and
Range Research Lab expansion unveiled
Spraying Herbicide on Invasive Weeds Doesn't
Always Pay, Study Shows By
Don Comis June
30, 2009
It may not always pay for ranchers to use herbicides to kill exotic
invasive weeds such as leafy spurge, according to a 16-year study by the
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and
colleagues.
Rangeland ecologist
Matt
Rinella at the ARS
Fort
Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, MT, and
colleagues conducted the study. Data they collected 16 years after a one-time
aerial spraying of herbicide showed that the invasive leafy spurge
(Euphorbia esula L) may have ultimately increased due to spraying.
Conversely, several desirable native forbs were still suffering the effects of
spraying 16 years after spraying.
Although the herbicide would have dissipated within a few years, it
seemed to cause a long-term plant community shift.
Any increase in grass production from the herbicide spraying only
lasted a year or two.
The study was done on the N-Bar Ranch in Montana. Each plot was either
grazed and sprayed, grazed but not sprayed, not grazed but sprayed or not
grazed or sprayed. Cattle grazing helped maintain native plant numbers when
herbicide was used.
Cattle grazing can help native forbs thrive because cattle prefer
grasses over forbs, and cattle trample soil, loosening soil for seeds that the
animals inadvertently plant when seeds are caught in their hooves or fur. That
said, when herbicide wasn't used, most native forbs did as well with or without
cattle grazing.
Herbicide caused the native plants Missouri goldenrod and yarrow to
become rarer over the 16-year study period. Barring herbicides, these two
species proved capable of co-existing indefinitely with the exotics.
Four native perennials became rarer in sprayed plots, but only when
grazing was excluded: velvety goldenrod, white prairie aster, vetch, and
prairie sagewort. Herbicide spraying caused no long-term harm to four other
native perennials. Rockjasmine and other plants belonging to the
Androsace spp. group were not affected by the herbicide even initially.
The study suggests that applying herbicides over large areas of land
containing herbicide-sensitive native plants is sometimes ill-advised.
The research was published in the journal Ecological
Applications.
ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency in the
U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
USDA - National Agricultural Statistics Service ReportsDairy ProductsTotal cheese output (excluding cottage cheese) was 861 million pounds, 2.6 percent above May 2008 and 1.8 percent above April 2009....
Peanut PricesPeanut prices received by farmers for all farmer stock peanuts averaged 24.3 cents per pound for the week ending June 27...
AcreageCorn Planted Acreage Up 1 Percent from 2008. Soybean Acreage Up 2 Percent. All Wheat Acreage Down 5 Percent. All Cotton Acreage Down 4 Percent....
Weekly Weather and Crop BulletinNASS releases Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin...
Broiler HatcheryBroiler-Type Eggs Set In 19 Selected States Down 4 Percent. Broiler Chicks Placed Down 5 Percent....
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Property Sales - View land and property listings available for sale in the United Kingdom, buy and sell milk quota online. Also includes company location, profile and professional services.
Accelerated Genetics - Offers dairy cattle genetics for AI purposes including Holstein, Jersey, Geurnsey and Brown Swiss. Outlines research projects in progress and offers a Sire Summaries and a virtual directory.
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AMS Genetics Inc. - Focusing on Holstein genetics and offering staff and company information, embryos, mating list, semen, a progressive breeding club, purchasing and contact information.
Australian Dairy Corporation - Offers extensive information about the Australian dairy industry and products. Includes large sections on statistics, health and nutrition, butter, cheese, milk and recipes.
Meta Description: [ Dairy Australia - Delivering for the Dairy Industry ]
Canadian Dairy Farm Directory - A listing of Canadian dairy farms, sales and shows, businesses and websites offering related services to the dairy industry.
Dairy Adjustment Authority - The Australian Federal Governments response to help dairy farmers with a fully deregulated milk market. Information on the initiative, relevant legislation, business rules, FAQ, media releases, publications, appeals and tribunal decisions. (Note: Some pages contain extensive acronyms.)
Dairyline Radio - A dairy news network located in the United States of America. Provides daily updates of current events in the dairy industry, features downloads of current radio broadcasts online and has archives of previous dairy news.
DairyLinks - A listing of links to other websites and business involved in the dairy industry including genetics companies, hoof trimming services, dairy breeders, and publications.
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Dairypower.com - Website offers dairy news, tips, interesting facts, commodity prices, discussion and a newsletter published by a dairy owner.
Meta Description: [ Dairypower connects dairyfarmers with dairy news, research, discussion, and tools to help in their dairy business. ]
Embrio - Offers embryos for Holstein, Brown Swiss and Jersey breeders. Features available cows, bull proofs, services, industry links and contact information. (Available in English and Italian.)
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Geno - Norwegian Red Cattle Breeding and AI Association - Information about GENO, sires, characteristics, genetic trends, sire selection, testing and AI stations, top herds, embryo's, interbull ranking and local representatives.
Greaveston Genetics - An exporter of live dairy cattle and frozen embryos from Canada to international destinations. Offers information about company history, services and pertinent details for potential suppliers.
Meta Description: [ Your prime source for top North American Holstein and Genetics ]
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International Dairy Federation - A forum for discussion and exchange of dairy information, federation events and offerings, publications, contacts and activities.
Milk Specialties Company - Offering milk replacers, ration supplements, health products, technical advice and contact information.
MooCow - Offering cow domain names, directory of cow merchandise available across the internet, pictures, information and related links.
Meta Description: [ MooCow.com: Anything and everything about cows you could possibly want to know, Cow Web guides, cow web directories, direcrtories of cattle associations, cattle publications directory, cattle breeds directory, moocow.com free web-mail ]
Professional Dairy Heifer Growers Association - About the association, membership application and information, meetings, regional maps and related links.
Meta Description: [ Heifer growers dedicated to growing high quality dairy replacements ]
Quality Certification Services - A dairy records auditor providing a source of information for the US dairy industry. Offers auditing guilelines, certified service providers, photo gallery, sample unknowns, faq and industry links.
Semex USA - Distributes cattle genetics products, embryos and live cattle to dairy and beef industries. Includes product information, company details, genetics research news, related links and contacts.
Meta Description: [ Semex USA provides excellent dairy genetics, including Canadian Holsteins and other breeds, through their top-notch A.I. sires. Online semen ordering is available. Semex USA offers Canadian Holstein Genetics, Angus, Simmental, Charolais & Club Calf beef bulls, mating programs and Jersey, Brown S... ]
Svensk Avel - Artificial insemination services for Swedish Red White, Swedish Holstein and Beef cattle. (Also available in Swedish and Spanish.)
The Cattle Exchange - Dairy cattle sales including select herd, college, milking herd, consignments, dispersals and ET's. Located in Delhi, New York, USA.
Meta Description: [ The Cattle Exchange is involved in dairy herd sales, dairy consignment sales,
farm real estate, and private treaty cattle sales of herds, heifers, calves etc. ]
Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development LLC - Site showcases dairy relocation opportunities in the United States and provides online dairy resources.
Why Milk? - Site features milk mustache campaign materials and games. Includes dairy information, free milk stuff, milk events, recipes and contests.
Meta Description: [ Whymilk.com is the official home of the got milk? Milk Mustache campaign. Find out who is the newest Milk Mustache celebrity, learn about milk's role in health, and check out frequent contests and promotions, games, nutrition resources and more. ]
Wisconsin Dairy Youth - Information on Wisconsin Dairy Youth activities, dairy resources, state contests, dairy judging and news.
Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc. - Provides Wisconsin dairy producers with information on products and services to help manage farm businesses. Includes butter, cheese and BFP markets, weather, dairy news and events, environmental issues, agricultural databases and general information.
World Dairy Expo - A comprehensive overview of the worlds largest commercial dairy trade show including general information, directions, maps, and hotel information.
Meta Description: [ World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, is the international meeting place for the dairy industry, featuring world-class dairy cattle competitions, seminars, auctions and exhibits. ]