If you’ve spent any time at all with Dr. Greg Bethard, you know he is not only an outstanding nutritionist but an excellent teacher in and out of the classroom. He’s the kind of person I like to hang out with because a conversation with him is always going to be thought-provoking.

Say it however you choose, but my grandma got a lot of mileage out of the line: “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch!” As grain prices have eroded, many producers have gotten excited about the opportunities before them.

Three brothers, Dean, Greg and Randy Smith, farm together at D&D Dairy in Rushford, Minnesota. The 1,000-cow dairy began adopting precision dairy technologies in April 2011 and now considers them to be valuable tools to the operation.

The precision dairy farming field of technologies is booming with new innovations. With many options to choose from, it can be difficult to know which technologies are useful and how the investment can be justified.

With less than 1.5 percent of our nation’s population directly involved in production agriculture, consumers are craving knowledge and explanations about where and how their food is produced. However, just the thought of opening your farm gate and inviting non-farm groups to tour the operation can make many farmers shake in their work boots. Center for Dairy Excellence intern Sara Kitchen shares a new resource designed to help farm families bridge the gap. PD Click here for the full column from Kitchen. See Kitchen's latest article for Progressive Dairyman about World Dairy Expo youth exhibitors here.

When all-terrain vehicles first appeared in the U.S. in the 1970s, they were promoted and sold as recreational vehicles designed to provide “thrills” for the rider. Riders soon realized that ATVs were useful machines to move through areas not accessible with pickup trucks, four-wheel drives or other motorized vehicles, and it became a popular hunting vehicle. ATVs were quickly recognized for their many uses in agriculture as a substitute for pickup trucks, horses and even walking. The machines now are found on all types of farms and ranches, in orchards and forests, in ornamental nurseries and on golf courses.

It doesn’t matter where the market has been – only where it is going. We encourage producers to look forward and not base decisions on what has happened in the past.

For many sports fans across the country, September marks their favorite time of the year … the start of another football season. As a die-hard Packers fan, I’m like a kid on Christmas morning when the NFL regular season kicks off.