Ask an Editor

While browsing the pages of our magazine and website, or while walking the yard of your farm, have you ever had a question that has just stumped you? Like, “Why do my cows look like they are only playing in the water trough instead of drinking?” or “How likely am I to have a set of triplet heifers?” If you have questions for Hoard’s Dairyman, you can submit them here. One member of our team of editors will research your question, contact an authority in the area if needed, and respond to your burning question. We’ll even forward herd health questions to one of our Veterinary Column contributors to answer it in a page of our magazine.

Also, if you have something you just need to let us know about, we’d love to hear about it! In each issue of Hoard’s Dairyman you can find the Opinions, Brickbats, and Bouquets section. Here, readers tell us their thoughts, and share what they really think about the perils of our industry. 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 the editors -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)
/ 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...
/ 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...
/ 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...
/ 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...
/ 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...
/ 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....