My parents bought a farm that came with a house. The house ended up being a bit of a fixer-upper . . . I’m talking very little siding, negligible plumbing, and small animals in the walls

Summer is the time for cow shows. It’s time for training and spending a lot of time at the wash rack. This year looks different, and I know for many people every fair that’s canceled is a blow...

Dear Jacob, A decade ago I introduced you to the world with my first "Around the Kitchen Table" column

My experience has been that animal activists are the worst. They take tiny grains of truth and twist them into the most spectacular lies. It’s annoying but effective

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

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...

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

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

If you’ve been following my blogs or my social media, you know what mental health in agriculture means to me. In fact, two of the most honest and open things I’ve ever put out into the world...

The pandemic has dramatically changed life as we know it. Consumers now shop, eat, live, and work differently

At this point, if you’re on social media, you’ve seen the awful comments left by activists on farmers’ posts

“If you can feed B vitamins at an economical price, do it!” encouraged Mike Hutjens. That was one of the messages viewers received as the University of Illinois nutrition icon

My mom penned an open letter in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on retail dairy, and her thoughtful perspective is touching and reassuring

Everything is hard right now. I know that, you know that. What’s worse is that it’s all out of our control. In times like these, I need two things. First, someone to vent to — a close...

My brother, Pat, died 25 years ago on April 10, 1995, and to say he is missed would be a huge understatement. Pat was killed driving a water truck, for an off-the-farm job, due to three faulty brakes

I hate watching the news. But the other day, I was stuck watching the news and I literally shuddered at all the depressing stuff going on in the world right now

As farmers, we’re uniquely fortunate when it comes to being quarantined for long periods of time. I don’t know about you, but before it was encouraged or legally enforced, I used to spend weeks...

Farmers literally fed the Allied forces and the world’s war-ravaged citizens during World War II