A crowd of about 150 dairy operators, local dignitaries, air district officials and media gathered on Oct. 7 for an open house and tour of Verwey Farms near Hanford, California, to learn about its new electrified, stationary feed mixing operation. 

There are many reasons why dairy farmers consider selling real estate. Some sales are the result of condemnation or forced sale, while others are due to the death of the landowner.

A really smart anonymous person once said, “Most of the problems in life are because of two reasons: We act without thinking – or we keep thinking without acting.”

I grew up on my family’s dairy farm in southern Wisconsin. I remember when one of my older brothers started recording each cow’s calving information in a notebook.

Ben Yale, my mentor and a former Progressive Dairyman contributor, firmly believed that the Federal Milk Marketing Order system was a benefit to producers. He also believed that the existence of a separate state-run California marketing order served as a detriment to producers outside of California.

Retirement is not an easy decision to make. Most farmers and ranchers have been farming most of their lives, and just the thought of retiring from the work they love is difficult.

Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley sat down with Dairy Management Inc’s CEO Tom Gallagher face-to-face at World Dairy Expo. He asked the dairy checkoff leader about several factors currently influencing dairy consumers and their impact on dairy product sales. 

Throughout economic history, immigrant laborers have filled gaps in the workforce in many industries and in many countries.

You may recall the fortune tellers who made headlines this past spring for admitting fortune telling was just a scam. Perhaps now we can definitively say that, when it comes to predicting the future, you just never know. 

“We need some help with succession planning,” the caller said, by way of introduction.