There are types of planning that I just love. Task me with making a meal plan for the week, and I am happy as a clam for thirty minutes or so as I research new recipes and page through old favorites to...

You’ve heard the saying, “Celebrities are just like us,” when, in reality, their lifestyles are vastly different than the average person

Whether it’s the order of crops and fields to harvest or simply getting machinery where it’s needed and loads timed out correctly, harvest is essentially a thoughtfully planned symphony in...

When you live a dairy life, there’s always something that doesn’t go to plan. Make a plan for the day and then laugh at it and throw it in the garbage

Animal rights activism is big business, bringing in over $800 million in income annually — up from $650 million last year and $595 million in the year prior

In Alan Jackson’s song, “Summertime Blues,” he discusses how, as a teenager, you work all summer and do not have the opportunity to enjoy it. That perspective most likely resonates with...

I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve seen or heard a farmer call a consumer stupid. At first, it makes me cringe because it’s just kind of mean. I mean, name-calling? Really?...

I think baby calves are adorable and sweet. If I see one, there is no doubt that I will walk up to it with my arm outstretched, palm up, to let it suck on my hand with all its slobber and sandpaper-feeling...

As we walk through the barns and pastures to check our cows throughout the day, it pays to watch the cows’ expressions. In a time where people either tend to stare at their phones while going about...

Do you ever sit around your farm shop and listen to the old men talk? I have heard many stories from the second and third generations of the farm, discussing the way it use to be, or things that had happened...

It’s the last week of summer here in the Pacific Northwest, or so the calendar says. That’s because our kids will return to school after Labor Day

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now a consumer buzzword that most of us have heard since the release of ChatGPT4. Now, Google, Facebook, and others are trying to catch up with OpenAI and believe it will...

I recently had one of those moments of frustration that turned to humility. As farmers, running 24/7/365 is the life. We have a very high stress job because so many different entities depend on us each...

Summer is coming to an end, and it’s time to go back to school. However, I won’t be going home empty-handed

As we were moving some cows and heifers to our calving pen today, it hit me that the cattle we were moving all have due dates further out than my own

In years past, while milking in the parlor, labeling an animal as a cull cow was pretty straightforward

While I was searching for information sources to use for a different writing assignment, I came across a Penn State Extension article that discussed managing weeds

It is Corn Silage Harvest 2023 here at Hillcrest Farms. This year we have been blessed with rain and a good corn crop

There are many articles and studies about “impostor syndrome” and its impact on women

Last week, Wisconsin experienced some pretty high temperatures that seem to be sticking around. I heard the phrase, “You should be used to the heat since you’re from the south,” multiple...