As the White House prepares for its famous Easter Egg Roll, the nation prepares to celebrate another holiday gone amiss. The stores bulge with chocolate bunnies, eggs and cellophane grass-filled baskets. There are lilies in flower shops and plenty of egg coloring kits in every supermarket and candies on every shelf.

Adapting to changing weather conditions is nothing new for farmers. Cycles of wetness, dryness, heat and cold have long been facts of everyday life. Some days it’s too wet to plow, other times soil moisture content ruins crop yields. The questions now, though, turn to whether weather changes are just a phase or a cycle, or part of something bigger and more permanent – known as climate change.

After reading the article regarding so-called “expert” perspectives on undercover videos (“Experts provide perspectives on undercover videos"), there are no words to describe my unhappiness at the Center for Food Integrity panel, which was put together obviously with no farmer input.

After spending the last six months visiting Icelandic dairy farms, I’ve begun to notice many of the characteristics inherent to the lifestyle. They have coffee before and after every trip to the barn, they own an overly enthusiastic border collie and, without fail, wear blue coveralls called gallis.

“Ice cream should be in your life, too. What’s more, it’s not even a bad or unhealthy food,” says Dr. Oz. quoted in Time Magazine. From myself and all the other chubby farm kids: We salute you, Dr. Oz. Finally, I have someone who supports my eating habits. Who is this person who supports me? He is a doctor and a wizard.

A cool cow is a comfortable cow that eats more and produces more milk. It’s a basic philosophy common to dairy farmers, but in practice, keeping cows comfortable can be a difficult feat. Improving air movement has been documented to effectively improve herd comfort, increase milk production and decrease the occurrence of reproductive issues and diseases. For years, dairymen relied on conventional fans for this task.

Conservation planning is based on science and art. As readers of this column know, I often write about deductive reasoning based upon what is already known and inductive thought based upon what is not known but rather intuitive. Recently at a planners meeting, we discussed the lengthy topic of how to identify a resource concern. Yes, we have charts and forms and helpful flowcharts to help us.

The 33rd annual Dairy Fashion Sale, the longest running student-assisted sale in the U.S., organized by the SUNY Cobleskill Dairy Cattle Club, happens 11 a.m. April 5 in the hangar guest stables building at the Equestrian Center, next to the Dairy Barn.

Capital Farm Credit (CFC) has joined forces with Tootie Ilse and Agri-Insurance LLC of Hondo, Texas, to expand its product line to farmers and ranchers in The Lone Star State. Capital's newest offering will bring crop insurance products designed to protect farmers and ranchers in multi-peril, hail, rainfall and livestock price protection markets.