The author and her family own and operate a 130-cow dairy and crop 1,500 acres. She also is a former associate editor at Hoard’s Dairyman.

Gilles-processing_web2
May 20 2021
It’s a push that has occurred up and down the chain. It has been driven by national and international brands that have been on the search to find more global suppliers
Gilles-Class-IV_web3
May 13 2021
Since the genesis of Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) pricing, the balance between pricing in the various milk classes has caused discussion and at times even distress among dairy farmers
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May 10 2021
In the 19 years prior to 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, the monthly difference between Class III and Class IV prices had exceeded $5 per hundredweight (cwt.) on only six occasions
Gilles-federal-order_web2
May 6 2021
Throughout the decades of milk pricing by Federal Milk Marketing Orders, dairy farmers, processors, and even consumers have questioned the importance of the orders
Gilles-dog_web1
April 29 2021
In so many businesses, COVID-19 has caused a fundamental change in the way sales are done
Gilles-markets_web5
April 26 2021
While the pandemic and its effects are by no means behind the United States, recent vaccine availability and slipping COVID-19 infection rates have caused many parts of the country to walk back policies...
Gilles-farm_web1
April 22 2021
The term risk management has become an integral part of the dairy lexicon in the last decade, and its merits have never been more obvious than during the wild swings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
Gilles-research_web2
April 15 2021
Innovation and research are two of the most important keys to future success of dairy sales. As such, the industry invests heavily in research and development to secure markets of the future
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April 12 2021
The discussion on the purpose and framework of FMMOs is at the heart of the issue with negative PPDs
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April 8 2021
The past year of dairy market volatility has once again stirred the pot of discontent with current milk marketing frameworks and raised the question, “Is federal order reform necessary?”
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April 1 2021
Geographical indicators (GIs) have held an increasingly important role at the trade talk table over the course of the last decade
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March 29 2021
Scarcity and oversupply were two of the stories that permeated the past year as COVID-19 influenced dairy markets
Gilles-benchmark_web4
March 11 2021
For those who closely follow dairy product pricing, monitoring CME movement, and particularly the block and barrel cheese prices, is a critical component of their sales planning
Gilles-fluid-milk_web3
March 8 2021
“If you look at the federal order pools back in the 1950s, it was about two-thirds to fluid milk and the other one-third being manufacturing,” University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mark Stephenson...
Gilles-Demand_web1
March 4 2021
In the dairy industry, demand and supply are critically linked. The balance between the two drives farm gate prices
Gilles-individual_web1
March 1 2021
One of the beautiful things about dairy farming in the United States is the variety. There are a number of ways to milk cows and be successful
Gilles-market-up_web2
Feb. 22 2021
While bank standards for assessing loans haven’t changed, the risks associated with dairy operations certainly have changed during the pandemic
Gilles-factors_web1
Feb. 18 2021
If volatility has been the defining characteristic of the dairy industry during the last few decades, 2020 was one for the record books
Gilles-labor_web1
Feb. 8 2021
The road to where we are today in agriculture labor laws has been paved with a multitude of good intentions and calls for justice
GIlles-labor_web2
Feb. 4 2021
The United States is nearly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and the disease has changed both social and societal norms across the country