The Bullvine

When 112 Milkers Averaged 49%: What Rodriguez’s Training Study Says You’re Leaving Per Cow in the Parlor.
Written SOP on the wall? A 2024 study found that herds with SOPs but no training actually had higher SCC than herds with no SOP at all. Executive Summ […]
$18.95 Milk, $1.6B in Cheese Plants: Why 2026 Forces Mid-Size Dairies to Scale, Go Premium, or Exit
Processors just bet $1.6B you’ll chase their cheese plants. At $18.95 milk, mid-size dairies really face only three choices: scale, go premium, or exi […]
Dairy Management’s $165 Million Checkoff Bet: $1.75 Billion Cottage Cheese Boom, $3.01/cwt Class II Drop
Your 15¢/cwt helped sell $1.75B of cottage cheese. Your Class II price went down $3.01/cwt. Explain that. Executive Summary: Dairy farmers are st […]
The $212,000 Bulk Tank Lie Hitting Upper Midwest Dairies
A lower-test herd shipped $212,000 more than its 4.25% neighbor. If you’re chasing percentages, this barn math is your wake-up call. Executive Summary […]
From “Worst Dairy” to Zero Lame Cows: How CDCB’s New h² = 0.27 Trait Could Rewrite Lameness Genetics
Forty years of feet-and-leg scores barely moved lameness. One Arizona herd did it in two — and now CDCB says the heritability is 0.27. Ready to rethin […]

$3,010 Per Heifer. 800,000 Short. Your Beef-on-Dairy Bill Is Due. 3 out of 4 dairies bred beef-on-dairy. Now 800,000 heifers are missing, and replacements are $3,010 a head. Where does your herd sit in that math? Executive Summary: If you chased…
$1.6B to Texas and Kansas, 76% of Wisconsin Farms Gone: Scale Up, Go Premium, or Get Out Hilmar, Leprino, and Valley Queen are pulling milk toward new regions. For producers in traditional dairy states, the math has changed—and so have the breeding goals. Executive Summary: Since 2020, Hilmar,…
Cargill Milwaukee Never Bought Your Calves. Tyson Did: How Ebert’s 2,500 Beef‑on‑Dairy Crosses Manage Packer Risk. Cargill Milwaukee never bought your calves. Tyson did. See how a 4,200-cow Wisconsin herd with 2,500 beef‑on‑dairy crosses is rewiring its sire and packer risk. Executive Summary: Ebert Enterprises in Algoma,…
Drumgoon Dairy Lost 38 Workers in One I-9 Audit. Your Operation Could Be 72 Hours Away. One I-9 audit resulted in the dismissal of 38 workers at Drumgoon Dairy. If ICE knocked tomorrow, how long could your parlor run? Executive Summary: Immigrant workers provide 51% of hired…
Dairy Management’s $165 Million Checkoff Bet: $1.75 Billion Cottage Cheese Boom, $3.01/cwt Class II Drop Your 15¢/cwt helped sell $1.75B of cottage cheese. Your Class II price went down $3.01/cwt. Explain that. Executive Summary: Dairy farmers are still paying 15¢/cwt into a national checkoff that now…

Steve Jobs Never Soldered a Circuit: How His Mac Playbook Can Free 988 of Your Hours and Add $24,000 to a 200‑Cow Dairy
Teagasc and repro data show why the best herds work 19 fewer hours a week and still come out at least $24,000 ahead on a 200‑ […]
The $8,100 Gamble on Missy, 198 Dragged Genes, and the 20-Year Breeding Blind Spot Hiding in Your Herd
Every time you pull up a sire list, there’s one question you almost never ask: what am I not measuring that’s already costing […]
Ginger Rogers: The Oscar Winner Who Bet It All on Golden Guernseys
Think an "outsider" can't build a serious dairy? An Oscar‑winner with Golden Guernseys proved otherwise — right up until the […]
Gold Medal Margins: Italy Turns Less Milk into €22.8B. You’re Stuck at $18.95.
As Milano-Cortina chases medals, Italy’s dairies pull €22.8B from less milk. If your 2026 outlook starts with $18.95, you nee […]
From 1,810 Dairy Farms to 18: How North Dakota’s Processing Collapse Cornered the Holle Family – and Could Corner You
You can’t breed your way to cheaper diesel.” North Dakota did the math, lost 1,792 dairies, and left one 1,000‑cow family ask […]

Locked from the Inside: Dairy’s Darkest Crimes and the Weak Spots They Exploited Barn doors locked from the inside. Semen straws filled with dishwater. A $7,500 cow insured for $250,000—and two dairymen dead by their own hands within a week. E472 Locked from…
Walkway Chief Mark: The Backup Bull Behind Seven Percent of Every Holstein Cow Half a million lost calves. Thirty billion dollars in milk. One bull at the center of both: Walkway Chief Mark. E484 Walkway Chief Mark: The Backup Bull Behind Se |…
Where the Robots Hum and the Cows Stay Calm: The Four Oak Farms Way Think robots ruin cow comfort and family time? At Four Oak Farms, the robot hums, the Brown Swiss relax, and the kids still make bedtime. E476 Where the Robots Hum…
They Kept the Barn Lights On That was a sad day when those eight cows didn't come in the barn in the morning, and you go out and… yeah E468 They Kept the Barn Lights On…
One ICE Raid. 35 Workers Gone. A New Mexico Dairy Learned What Community Really Means. One ICE raid stopped a dairy cold. 35 workers gone. But it also revealed who neighbours really are. E471 One ICE Raid. 35 Workers Gone. A New Mexico D |…