In February, I participated in the 2017 Midwest Regional Dairy Challenge contest in Madison, Wisconsin. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a contest where one sits at a table and chugs a gallon of milk faster than the next person without throwing up. Although something of the sort would have been epic, I am thankful I was not asked to do so.

Too many of the nation’s dairy farmers are facing an ongoing, daunting challenge: finding enough American workers to fill jobs on their farms, even when they provide wages higher than those paid by other local jobs.

Abundant dry grass coupled with windy conditions mingled to create deadly and disastrous results as wildfires spread through the Midwestern states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. The amount of acreage burned easily exceeded 1 million acres.

Chrissy Meyer has roots on a small Wisconsin dairy farm, but her career has taken her overseas, where she has visited dairies in countries like the Netherlands, Italy and Wales. See how dairying in these places is not so different from the U.S. in these photos.

Growing up on the small, 40-cow registered Holstein farm that my parents still operate in rural southwestern Wisconsin, I never imagined where future travels might take me.

While the 2017 growing season begins to awaken, hay prices remain in a slumber. The pickup in buyer interest in early February failed to spring life into hay prices, which remain the lowest in six years. While widespread winter precipitation improved moisture conditions in many areas, the south-central U.S. continues to report drought conditions.

It almost seems impossible that I have been managing Cedar Pine Farm for five years now. I remember walking onto the farm on that chilly November day. We were milking around 300 cows and feeding 30 calves. These days we are quickly approaching 500 milking and 100 calves.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council, primarily funded by dairy farmers through their dairy checkoff investment, helps enhance the global demand for U.S. dairy products and ingredients. These efforts work. In fact, one in seven milk tankers leaving American farms reaches customers and consumers internationally through exported dairy products and ingredients.

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Pests can be costly to dairy farmers due to disease transmission and irritation. Whether pests feed upon animals or are simply a nuisance, they can reduce milk production and decrease weight gains.