Chuck Utecht doubts someone would have jumped the electric fence and tangled with the bulls on their own turf and the distances and damage involved suggests a high-powered rifle was used. The shooter also targeted a calf in a nearby feedlot, but Utecht is more worried about what type of person would gun down a trio of penned animals and think it was fun. Deputies did not find any shell casings and the owners could not think of anyone who would shoot the cattle for no apparent reason....

In the supplemental spending request, the governor also proposed creating a task force to develop strategies for strengthening the Massachusetts dairy industry. The Massachusetts farmer's position in this highly regulated industry has to do with a complicated formula that sets the market prices for milk across the country. CARLISLE -- So far, Mark Duffy is holding onto his 130 cows, but just this winter he saw two more friends sell their stock as economic shifts deepened the woes of the...

California's cheese industry includes artisan and farmstead cheesemakers -- meaning cheese made at a dairy with milk from the dairy's cows -- along with behemoths such as Hilmar, the maker of natural American-style cheeses. California cheese making got a boost back in 1982, when the state's dairy industry had a two-pronged problem: Milk consumption was declining and surplus was building up. Because it takes approximately 10 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of cheese, the milk surplus could...

And along with higher milk prices, you can also expect to pay more for other dairy products such as cheese and ice cream. Energy costs have gone up, fuel costs have gone up, grain costs have skyrocketed, but the price of milk, which is heavily regulated by the federal government, simply has not kept pace Its been a brutal year, dairy farmer Mark Duffy said. Every little bit will help It will give me some extra money to pay my grain bill, which is very high, he said, And it will give me...

Up to 100 cattle were trapped in a farm outbuilding in Co Down when the fire broke out and police said they did not yet know how many had died. The Fire and Rescue Service said movement had been seen in the barn but officers could not approach because of fears nearby gas cylinders may explode. We can see some movement within the shed so we are hoping the cattle will be OK, but until we manage to deal with the acetylene incident and let the cattle out and let the vet look at them, we really...