If you have a handy way to handle something on your farm, submit it as one of our famed Handy Hints (and make some money while doing it.) You can email it to an editor -editors@hoards.com- and your hint could be printed and shared with tens of thousands of producers worldwide. Handy Hints that are published receive $30 and if you include a clear, reproducible photo, that earns you an additional $20.

The photo should be at least 240 dpi (dots per inch) and approximately 4" x 6" in size to print well in our magazine. And, when you provide your full mailing address with your hint, payment will be sent promptly. (Hints and photos can also be mailed to the Hoard’s Dairyman office at PO Box 801, Fort Atkinson, Wis., 53538)


Click here to order our newly printed Handy Hints Book,
a collection of Handy Hints from our readers.



Here are a few Handy Hints from fellow readers.

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Sept. 15 2016
Handy Hint: September 25, 2016 Wash bottles with a push of a button I was searching for a more efficient way to wash and dry calf milk bottles. Two years ago, I bought a dishwasher through Craigslist for...
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Aug. 31 2016
Handy Hint: September 10, 2016 Let the light shine in Our farm created this calf pen with a roof that can be lifted up and down. My dad, Fred Ritsema, and employees from his 3,000-cow dairy welded the...
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Aug. 17 2016
Handy Hint: August 25, 2016 Recycled seat makes for a smoother tractor ride I was restoring a John Deere 4250 tractor, and the original tractor seat had tears in the fabric and the armrests didn't work...
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Aug. 4 2016
Handy Hint: August 10, 2016 Keep New Calves Close By We only have one calving pen on our farm, so sometimes we have to calve a cow in her stall. We purchased a small 40-gallon water tank that works perfectly...
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July 11 2016
Handy Hint: July 2016 No surprise pipeline washes For an added layer of protection, I installed a limit switch on my swing pipe in the milk house. I wired the switch into my pipeline washer. The pipeline...
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June 3 2016
Handy Hint: June 2016 Cold milk gets the green light After losing a tank or two of milk due to the bulk tank not cooling right, I bought a separate thermostat and wired red and green lightbulbs to it....
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May 12 2016
Handy Hint: May 25, 2016 Cleans every inch of an esophageal tube I have always had a hard time getting the tube on my esophageal feeder clean. To fix this problem, I started using a bore snake for cleaning...
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April 28 2016
Handy Hint: May 10, 2016 This tool scrapes and rakes To help clean the freestalls on our farm, I welded a piece of angle iron to a steel rake and bolted a rubber strip to it. I use the rubber end to scrape...
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April 22 2016
Handy Hint: April 25, 2016 A row of clean bottles I was looking for a way to rinse calf bottles thoroughly and efficiently. I took 1-inch PVC pipe, 4 feet long, and connected it to the hot water line....
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April 5 2016
Handy Hint: April 10, 2016 Keep winter's wrath away from calves Here in southern Pennsylvania we received nearly 3 feet of snow during one storm in January, and I needed a way to keep that snow out of...
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March 20 2016
Handy Hint: March 25, 2016 Gates are easier to open To easily open and close gates, Dave Clark of Godfrey Dairy developed this double-hook system. By creating a U-shaped pipe, one half of the U-bend fits...
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March 7 2016
Handy Hint: March 10, 2016 Racks help bundle tires Tires that cover bunker silos at Hillcrest Dairy are more organized after creating a number of iron "tire racks." As tires come off the bunker to expose...
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Feb. 17 2016
Handy Hint: February 25, 2016 PVC pipes track calf feeding Keeping track of which calves get fed milk twice per day, once or not at all is handled rather easily for the calf feeders at Paint Creek Heifers...
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Feb. 2 2016
Handy Hint: February 10, 2016 Get little helpers ready for barn chores For most farm moms, the worst part of taking little ones out to the barn is getting them ready. It can take half as long as chores...
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Jan. 14 2016
Handy Hint: January 25, 2016 A milk house floor saver The purpose of this recessed stainless steel drain pan is to save the concrete from the detergent and acid that run under the bulk tank washer. This...
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Jan. 5 2016
Handy Hint: January 10, 2016 Hinged gate closes man pass From a safety standpoint, a man pass allows a person working with livestock to make a quick exit from the pen to avoid injury. There are over 56...
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Dec. 9 2015
Handy Hint: December 2015 Make It Easy to Keep Tanks Clean To ensure that water tanks are cleaned out regularly at Duncan Acres Dairy in Franklinton, La., farm owner Brent Duncan placed several milk house...
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Nov. 6 2015
Handy Hint: November 2015 Get it right the first time Hooking the hydraulic hoses to our tractor can be time consuming and frustrating. It often takes a couple trips in and out of the tractor to rearrange...
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Oct. 15 2015
Handy Hint: October 25, 2015 Calves on the Move We like the convenience of a golf cart on the farm but had never found a good way to move new calves with it. My husband and father-in-law converted the...
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Oct. 8 2015
Handy Hint: October 10, 2015 A cow scratcher on demand We made a cow scratcher that we can move from pen to pen on our farm. We took an old road sweeper brush and washed and sanitized the bristles. Next,...