My shrewd buddy Everett came by for a visit today. I haven’t seen him for a while because he’s been hauling stock, driving his John Deere and learning how to operate a backhoe.

With the advent of the new year, it’s nothing new to see and hear, ad nauseam, about how seemingly everyone is ridding themselves of old bad habits, turning over new leaves, starting fresh and generally being inspired to rise above their lesser selves to become something better than they were in the past 12 months.

The little kid sat on his kneeAnd looked up with stars in his eyesHe said, “Granddaddy, tell me againHow it was when you were my size.”

No one can deny the excitement that comes with calving time. Healthy newborn calves can give anyone hope for the years to come. But when scours hit the herd’s new prospects, it can put a real damper on all of the excitement.

Recent changes in the feeder cattle market have undoubtedly forced many of us to re-evaluate our day-to-day management practices.

On the football field, it’s about pulling everything together to finish strong. In the milking parlor, whether it’s the genetics, feed, weather, facilities, management or all of the above, it looks like the cows are “owning” the fourth quarter.

Closing Will Feed was not an easy decision. Anne Burkholder grieved a few weeks before she could write about it in her Feed Yard Foodie blog. Some of the initial posts were raw.

A few months ago, I stepped into my boss’s office for my annual review. I sat down and listened as my boss gave me a lot of positive feedback and a couple of things to work on. He offered me a raise, gave me a generous bonus, and after all of that, I told him I had decided to return to my family’s dairy farm.

Kati Kindschuh of Brownsville, Wisconsin, may be the 2016 Wisconsin State Holstein Princess, but there is more on her resume than smiling and waving. Along with her duties as Holstein Princess, Kindschuh works on her family’s 60-cow dairy farm, attends college full time and participates in competitive cross fitting.

Dramatic and fundamental changes over the past two years threaten California’s dairy industry and the dairy cooperative structure, according to Eric Erba, senior vice president and chief strategy officer for California Dairies Inc. (CDI).