My family went on their first vacation to visit a friend in California last spring. It was the first time in 18 years that my parents had left the farm for more than a long weekend outside of driving distance

Not too long ago, I was inside sipping some ice tea and reading a book, when I paused, looked outside my kitchen window, and smiled

It was so wonderful to visit with my sister, Cathy, and her family. Last week I went back to my roots and visited my hometown of Bend, Ore

Here at Hillcrest Farms, we take pride in what we do. The good days, the bad days, the hot days, and the cold days

A year can go by at record speed, or at least that is how it has felt this past year. Often days and nights intertwined, and somehow, the seasons flew to the next without us having much time to hit the...

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

Finely tuned rations, stringent milking procedures, and compliance to sound reproductive protocols all lead to well-run dairies. In journalism, the same can be said of a watchful eye that carefully reviews...

Ever had a plan for the week? Ever had a week that actually went according to that plan? It’s a familiar feeling for dairy farmers; this need for flexibility

Our wedding anniversary is in June, on Flag Day to be exact, and two of our children were born in June as well. I was even told by my husband, while in labor with our two youngest children, "This isn't...

I don’t have kids. I mean, I have 500 Jerseys that are basically like toddlers, so maybe I do? However, I am a farm kid. So, allow me a moment to remind farm parents of

Two months. It’s been just over two months since I made the bold step of quitting my full-time, steady, and equally rewarding job as a youth 4-H educator (which I loved, by the way)

As humans, we often make extra food purposely, so that we have leftovers to eat the next day. That same philosophy doesn’t work for dairy cows, who need fresh feed daily

This time of year typically involves graduation parties and family BBQs to kick off summer. Flowers are in bloom, the grass is getting green, and the corn is growing in early June in the Midwest

When I was 2 years old, my parents both worked as herd managers on successful dairy farms in central New York, but then, everything changed

Food can carry quite a few labels these days. There’s grass-fed, organic, no antibiotics used, vegan, from cows not treated with rBST, clean . . . and probably at least a dozen others

June is coming . . . did you read that ominously, like from Game of Thrones? You should have because June is almost here, and it’s looking like it’s going to be a battle. Online, at least

You might be thinking that with COVID-19 stay-at-home rules in place and limits on how many people can gather, your annual National Dairy Month farm tour should be canceled, too

Well, it happened this past week. I turned 30 years old and plucked not one but two gray hairs out of my head

“Remember that a cow is a mother, and her calf is a baby.” — W.D. Hoard

It seems like the world is at a standstill, but the view outside my farmhouse in East Moline, Ill., tells a different story