My daughter, Cassie, age 13, standing in front of one of the 9/11 memorial fountains during our trip to New York City in June. Earlier this summer, my daughter, Cassie, and I were in New York

One of my goals in writing these blogs is to bridge a gap that I have perceived between the farming side of dairy and the processing side

It’s a day that we will never forget. At a quarter past one in the morning, my husband got a call from his mother, and she was screaming "Fire!"

While different philosophies for breeding cattle cover the world, the same general idea of what is a desirable cow still holds true

The internet is saturated with articles about time, money, and happiness. Throw in additional hot topics like health and fitness, and you’ve covered the “how-to” gamut

Growing up as a breed convention attendee and competitor, I knew that the end of the school year didn’t mean the beginning of vacation, hanging by the pool, or even simply relaxing in front of the...

Most of our Saturday mornings might include feeding calves, chores, or if we’re younger, maybe watching some cartoons to kick-off the weekend

What’s the best heat stress abatement practice? Standing? No. That’s not the correct answer, but if you watch a pen of cows that are experiencing heat stress, it sometimes appears to be their...

I’m getting old. I used to be able to pull all-nighters with ease, but this past week has proven that those days have seriously passed

How do you define strength? Does it mean you squat 300 pounds and do 30 unbroken pull ups? Is strength being a dairy producer, waking every morning to face yet another day of hardships — but doing...

As the buzzer went off, I untucked my jersey and looked up from the basketball court to the stands

Last week, I officially shed the winter coat and put it away. I’m not talking away, away because I’ve now lived in Wisconsin long enough to understand that sometimes April will pretend to be...

"Pretty sure there’s poop in my boot. Yup, I can feel it sticking to my sock. Oh! It is wet, and I can feel it in my toes! And now it’s gone. Not the poop, but the boot. Where did it go?

Really, the little acts of kindness that come from my dairy farmer husband — at the least expected of times and the most needed of times — are what make my heart skip a beat

It feels as if there has been 100 days in the month of January. My guess is some of you can relate. Over the last 10 days, the temperature has not risen above 10°F, with the coldest day at -50°F...

I recently tuned in to the NFL football game of the Chicago Bears versus the Philadelphia Eagles

This holiday season is going to be rough for a lot of farmers across the country. Reports of farms selling out are still rolling in daily, which means that too many families will be spending their first...

I had a unique experience the other day. It is interesting how it all started but even more so how it ended

I am sure most of you know that women are starting to take on more responsibility in the agricultural industry. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, you would see a lot of husbands running the farms while the...

The Central National FFA Judging Contest drew the largest field of participants of all judging events at World Dairy Expo