The author is a third-generation dairy farmer from Oregon where she farms in partnership with her husband and parents. As a mother of three young boys who round out the family run operation as micro managers, Darleen blogs about the three generations of her family working together at Guernsey Dairy Mama. Abiqua Acres Mann's Guernsey Dairy is currently home to 90 registered Guernseys and recently transitioned to a robotic milking system.
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May 12 2020
We enjoyed a beautiful weekend for Mother’s Day. The weather was perfect, if not a little on the hot side
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April 28 2020
To say we are all trying to find a new normal would be an understatement. With schools closing and classrooms moving to distance learning, the biggest learning curve I think
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April 14 2020
Everywhere you look, the only thing in front of us seems to be COVID-19. The uncertainty in everything is tiring
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March 31 2020
“Well, that escalated quickly.” It seems to be the appropriate phrase to describe the last two weeks. What looked like would only be a slight interruption, has brought the global community...
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March 17 2020
If there’s one thing I don’t think anyone was expecting this year, it’s the crisis that COVID-19 has brought. I feel like we are just in the beginning of the storm here in the U.S
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March 3 2020
Muhammad Ali said, “Often it isn’t the mountains ahead that wear you out, it’s the little pebble in your shoe.”
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Feb. 18 2020
There are lots of times that it has been hard to think of the future of the dairy industry with optimism. Especially after the challenges of the last few years
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Feb. 6 2020
We’ve survived the month of January and made it to February. What is it about that first month of the year that makes it just seem to drag on? There really does seem to be 734 days in January
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Jan. 21 2020
In life’s priority list, it can be easy to get wrapped up in what society says we should be doing. Jump on any social network and you can see a ton of advice
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Jan. 17 2020
There is no doubt many of us in the dairy industry were ready to see 2019 in the rear view
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Dec. 10 2019
You know those inspirational posters that hang in classrooms and doctors’ offices? They are there to instill a sense of purpose in those who read them
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Nov. 26 2019
Another perfect fall day in the Northwest. Sun shining through perfectly colored leaves. A crisp, fresh air without a cloud in the sky
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Nov. 12 2019
Pull into any farmyard and you will likely be welcomed by the farm dog before the farmer. Sometimes those barks belong to the true working dog, other times it’s the family dog or even the little...
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Oct. 15 2019
A police report news blurb I saw a couple of weeks ago left me chuckling. A high-speed pursuit of a stolen vehicle ended at a dairy farm when the suspects managed to drive into the manure lagoon
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Sept. 17 2019
In this dairy farming life, it’s easy for the days to blur together and the weeks quickly disappear
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Sept. 3 2019
It’s been several years since we’ve been able to take a string of show cows to the fair
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Aug. 20 2019
The same question has been raised time and again in conversations about the future of the dairy industry
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Aug. 6 2019
Today, my family will lay my grandfather to rest. In his casket, we’ll place a bottle of whiskey for his safe keeping into eternity
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July 23 2019
sat in rush hour traffic in Oregon’s biggest city, Portland, the other day. It’s something I avoid at all costs, but then again, I try to avoid driving to the big city for anything
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July 9 2019
There are times where I know we all struggle with parenting as dairy farmers. Finding a balance between work and family time is basically impossible