Just over one year ago, an early morning drive down the road to check his heifers left a North Carolina dairyman with a gunshot wound to the neck. Now, Zach Myers shares his miraculous story of survival and recovery with Progressive Dairyman.

Editor’s note: Jaydyn Isiminger of Union City, Pennsylvania, recently wrote this speech as part of her participation in the Pennsylvania Jersey Queen contest. This speech is reprinted with her permission.

Editor’s note: This article is the second in a series profiling sources for an in-depth feature about the Chinese dairy industry, appearing in print later this summer. Walter Chen, Ph.D., spends half of his professional life in his native China and the other half at home with his family in California.

From gowns to guests and everything in between, planning a wedding is no simple task. Add in factors like arranging a planting and a harvest, working around the schedules of guests and groomsmen who need to be home for morning and evening milkings, and the struggles of planning a ceremony or reception outdoors on the farm when the weather could turn at any moment, there is no doubt that incorporating the farm into that special day will take time, energy and many helping hands.

If you are visiting Union Bridge, Maryland, be sure to check out the five-star accommodations at the Cow Comfort Inn, where “cows enjoy their stay” and people do too.

With a total of 1,000 dairy cows and 1,000 heifers, Bosch Dairies in Ontario, California, produces condensed evaporated milk and will continue to do so at their present location… at least for now.

“My dad always told me that a cow was put on this earth to produce milk, but she doesn’t have to be ugly to do it,” says Paul Chittenden, founder of Dutch Hollow Farm in Stuyvesant, New York.

I never thought being a loan officer would offer this much variety in my life. I should also claim that I have a hard time sitting still and I am very happy I do have variety in my job so I don’t have to be trapped by four brown walls daily.

Read the article “Harrison Dairy future built on cow basics, cow flow,” which ran in our June 12 issue. Click through the photos below to view more images of Harrison Dairy in Tennessee.