The economics of the dairy industry today continue to squeeze the bottom line of every operation. Naturally, expenses and feed rations have been under tremendous scrutiny by every business manager.

When asked to write this piece for Progressive Dairyman, I was asked to write about the misconceptions about organic dairy farming. The main thing I want you to know is: We are not crazy. Well, maybe we are, slightly. But show me one dairy farmer who isn’t. You almost have to be slightly crazy to do what we do day in and day out. We dairy farm because we love what we do, because we care for the animals and each day we all produce a wholesome product that nourishes billions of people. That doesn’t change whether you are conventional or organic.

Thomas Jefferson and his fellow Agrarian philosophers founded the new republic of America on the idea that the farmer was the ideal citizen. One of his reasons for claiming legitimacy for the occupation was the closeness to nature not experienced by most others who didn’t farm.

In seventh grade, I memorized the Gettysburg Address. At the time, the speech was just pleasing words grouped together in a concise poetic manner.I have quoted them many times since, but until recently I did not realize how prophetic and applicable they are today.

Each year, dairymen, farmers, truckers and equipment operators spend an ever-increasing amount of money on maintenance costs. The most expensive of all maintenance repairs are those of catastrophic failures, which occur when a part on a piece of equipment fails completely and is often damaged beyond repair. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to know if an engine was about to fail or a transmission on a piece of equipment was nearing its life expectancy? Because of modern chemistry, it is actually possible through a process known as oil analysis.

I am now home from Africa. My duty station is East Lansing, Michigan, on the Ecological Sciences Staff at the NRCS state office. I am on standby status, which means if I am needed to go somewhere outside the U.S., then the phone rings. But I was told I will be here in the U.S. for the near future. I am enjoying being home.

Just as crossbreeding adds growth, fertility and longevity to hybrid cattle, the joint collaboration of two beef cattle breed associations yielded information, ideas and networking opportunities surpassing what either could have accomplished alone.