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-holidays_web4
July 20 2020
While the coronavirus pandemic has certainly brought wide swings in dairy markets, it has brought an even wider list of questions about the future
Gilles-baking_web3
July 13 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has brought to light a number of new consumer behaviors. Among them is an interesting trend that has emerged in purchasing decisions
Gilles-cannibalization_ph1
July 9 2020
COVID-19 brought to light a number of supply chain concerns around the world. Chief among them according to economist David Kohl was the cannibalization of industry via concentration
Knee-high-corn_ph2
July 6 2020
Although there is risk of hot weather and the potential for drought across some parts of the country in July, this year’s corn crop is looking markedly better than last year
Amino-acids_ph
July 2 2020
For years, feed costs have carried extra scrutiny as farms look to minimize their impact on the operation’s bottom line
CA_Vitoria_016
June 29 2020
This week is forecasted to be hot in nearly every dairy producing part of the country. Month-long predictions have much of the same with above average temperatures expected for all of July
Gilles-dairy-farmer
June 29 2020
Class III milk, not Class I, could be the price leader in June milk checks. “June’s Class III price (driven by cheese price gains) is expected to jump over $7 per hundredweight (cwt.)
Gilles_ph5
June 25 2020
This May’s milk production figures saw a 1.1% decline from May 2019 and were recognizably lower than April 2020. The cuts were made both in total production and production per cow
kid-farm_ph3
June 22 2020
COVID-19 shutdowns and regulations across the country have left childcare operations in a certain amount of flux. In some areas, they are operating at full capacity, others have capacity limits, and still...
haylage_ph4
June 18 2020
Alfalfa production in the Upper Midwest the last several years has been incredibly difficult. In the fields, winterkill and wet soils frustrated harvests and left fields in poor condition. Part of two...
Some-farms_ph1
June 15 2020
“If you happened to max out on Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC), are going to receive Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) payments, you did Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP), or are locked in at a...
Cheese knife_ph1
June 11 2020
Dairy, like many other commodity markets, has seen ever increasing volatility over the course of the last several decades. That’s been further accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic
forage_ph
June 8 2020
Timely harvest of the forage summits the list compiled by the University of Florida’s Adegbola Adesogan. It’s fully detailed below
AgBarometer_ph3
June 8 2020
While the dairy industry and many agriculture commodities have seen better prices in the last few weeks, market fluctuations and pessimism still prevail in the countryside
ClassIII_ph
June 4 2020
Agriculture commodity prices have been all over the board as markets adjusted to a variety of factors brought on by COVID-19
blog_6-1-20
June 1 2020
I distinctly recall my fifth-grade teacher Mr. Z. He was a fun and interactive guy, and one of his favorite sayings was “until the cows come home.” He would tack it onto the end of any sentence...
Relief-strategies_ph3
June 1 2020
With last week’s initiation of sign up for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), farmers now have some clarity on the various programs available to them and can begin to formulate their...
Dracula
May 28 2020
Can I get money from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) if I’m already receiving payments from Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) or Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP)? That’s a question we’ve...
Cant-grow_ph2
May 25 2020
If it’s been on your mind to consider farm expansion during this tough financial time, there is one question dairy lenders say is essential to answer
Can-we-absorb_ph3
May 21 2020
Financial strategy for dairy farms during COVID-19 has looked a little bit like a roller coaster. While milk prices plummeted and then started to rebound, many farmers revisited their budgets