As a dairy producer, ensuring your calves have the best start to life begins before the calf is born. The care and nutrition you provide the cow while her calf is in utero can set that calf up for life.

The dairy cow is quite an extraordinary creature. Time and time again the record for highest milk production is broken, most recently by My Gold from Ever-Green-View Farms in Wisconsin with a mind-boggling 77,480 pounds (35,144 kilograms) of milk produced in a 365-day period.

Once again, World Dairy Expo has announced its recipients of the Expo Recognition Awards. Industry peers nominated the individuals selected. All awards, while having different criteria, are based on involvement and excellence in both the dairy industry and local community.

Why is it a farmer can run a $300,000 harvester but can’t turn on a dishwasher? Why is it parents and kids can work nine months on a 4-H steer project day after day, but after six hours in the hot sun during the quality show at the county fair nobody cares who wins anymore?

I recently read a series of articles that focused on dairy production in 2066. These articles were well-informed and particularly interesting because I have been pondering a related question for several months.