A newly launched website, Keep Families Farming, allows individual farmers, as well as organizations, to register their concerns about the Labor Department's youth labor proposal.

DOL last year announced it was considering amending the department's regulations concerning agricultural jobs that are off-limits to minors.

2011 did a lot to rebuild the spirits and the balance sheets of dairy producers. It also featured a spirited debate about dairy price reform, margin protection and safety nets. As of this writing, the Dairy Security Act seems destined for inclusion in the 2012 Farm Bill in some form. No matter what happens with the public policy debate, the risk management approaches that are being talked about really are apple-and-orange comparisons. No comparative calculators will magically tell you which approach is best for you.

From Nebraska to Ohio and down to the Bootheel of Missouri, more than 1,000 farmers, retailers and crop consultants attended seven Respect the Rotation™ events throughout the Midwest this summer. There they saw firsthand the impact glyphosate-resistant waterhemp, Palmer amaranth, giant ragweed and kochia can have on their profits. Attendees left ready to make a change on their own farms.

As we welcome in 2012, we remember the seasons of the year and how winter will become spring and then summer and so on. In this well-understood annual cycle of seasons and the weather patterns and traditions that accompany each one, we know with some certainty that during winter we will probably need a coat, in the spring an umbrella, in the summer an air conditioner and in the fall a leaf rake. In agriculture, we have traditionally had price cycles that could be compared to the cycle of seasons – but they tend to be less certain and predictable.

Farmers and water managers may soon have an online tool to help them assess drought and irrigation impacts on water use and crop development, thanks to the work of two U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists Martha Anderson and Bill Kustas have developed an evapotranspiration (ET) and drought modeling system at the ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. The modeling system also will help forecasters monitor ET and drought conditions across the United States and overseas. ARS is USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency, and the research supports the USDA priorities of responding to climate change and promoting international food security.

Dairy producers continue to face a risky financial environment. Expensive feed and stagnant-to-dipping milk prices mandate caution when deciding how money is to be spent. It’s important to focus attention on getting the most return from every investment, including your reproductive program. Reproduction is the driving force behind the profitability of any dairy.

I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with a roundup of cowboy friends. (This means that you fed the horses and caked the cows before breakfast).