Farm kids and town kids can be light years apart, even when those town kids are from small rural communities.

I’ve been hobbling around, dragging my leg like an old stifled bull for two or three weeks now. What I had thought and hoped was simply a pulled hamstring appears to be something a little more severe.

The percentage of dairy operations using computers hasn’t changed much in recent years, but dairy farmers continue to move toward higher-speed internet connections when and where it is available, according to a biennial USDA report.

Digest Highlights: Milk deserves income insurance options similar to crops. Canadian mid-year cow and heifers numbers up slightly. McDonald’s sets antibiotic framework requirements for suppliers. There’s an updated Spanish language Form I-9 web page. A class action lawsuit over parmesan cheese product labels is dismissed. Find a summary of these and other news here.

On April 24, 2012, a tractor rollover during spring plowing took the life of James Neidermire, forever changing the course of Neiderland Dairy in East Farmington, Wisconsin. His younger brother, Joel, farms on with his memory close at heart. Joel continues to help run their 40-cow herd and farm over 200 acres.

The August USDA Cattle on Feed report shows an Aug. 1 feedlot inventory of 10.604 million head, 104.3 percent of last year. This is the largest August feedlot inventory since 2012.