Every spring, usually around April, we get the itch to walk the fence and appraise pasture conditions for the long-anticipated turnout. Depending on your operation and location, that might mean a herd of freshening cows or cows with calves alongside.

Every minute of every day, we act without thinking. We walk; we talk; we reach and grab for various items. While these things are now second nature, there was a time in all of our lives when each of these activities took a great amount of thought and practice to develop.

In February, the 2016 Annual Dairy Policy Conference held in Ottawa ended with the Dairy Research Symposium hosted by the Dairy Research Cluster led by Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC).

The number 2020 stares at me from the flip chart paper on my kitchen wall. This farm coach is being coached to set timelines for moving off our farmyard to make room for our successor to live on the main yard.