We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
When I was a child, time seemed to move like cooling taffy. There was plenty of time to play. There was time for long conversations on the front porch and around the dinner table. There was time to make a quilt and time to embroider. There was time to visit with a friend and take a long walk in the forest.
Before you know it, the sun will be shining and hay will be lying in the field ready to be baled. Does your normal spring round baler start-up procedure go something like this? Connect round baler to tractor. Turn on the PTO and hope something doesn’t break.
Age: 47
Location: Hawthorne, Florida
My dairy’s history: This is the 20th year on our farm for my wife Linda and me. We moved from northern Vermont in January of 1993 when the opportunity of owning a dairy in Florida presented itself. We started with just shy of 200 cows and have grown to 650 milking. Plus, we are now a closed herd as we raise all our replacements.
Age: 59
Location: Pacific City, Oregon
My dairy’s history: My great grandpa came here from Switzerland. My older brother farms that land today and my wife, Vonnie, and I bought the farm next door. We’re members of the Tillamook County Creamery Association and milk 85 Holstein-Friesian cross on 187 acres of hills, pasture and seasonal grazing land. Our three sons are now grown, with the youngest wanting to take over the family farm.
Recently, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced that for the months of February through May 2013, the minimum prices for the five classes of milk will be increased by varying amounts, resulting in an overall blend price increase of about $0.25 per hundredweight (cwt).
In this column, I have often written that the best investment we make is an investment in people. Specifically, helping them understand the importance of bringing meaning to their lives.
For those choosing public service, the meaning is service to others, empathy for those less fortunate and compassion for those stuck in a life void of self-determination and opportunity.
More than 670 dairy producers, family members and industry representatives gathered at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, in January for the Leading Dairy Producer Conference.
Wisconsin farm groups, including the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and the Dairy Business Association, say laws should be amended so that farms could legally employ foreign workers year-round.
A University of Wisconsin – Madison study found that more than 40 percent of the employees on Wisconsin dairy farms were immigrants. The study also said that experts believe roughly 50 percent of immigrant workers in U.S. agriculture lack legal authorization to work here.
According to ABC News, animal rights group Mercy for Animals has halted undercover camera investigations into animal cruelty in five farm states, including Iowa and Utah where laws against such filming went into effect last year.
The Humane Society of the United States has also stopped its hidden-camera investigations in those states.
Click here to read Progressive Dairyman's December article, "Dairy industry adapting strategically to video probes," in which communications consultant Charlie Arnot writes that the dairy industry has "gone from saying nothing and defending the farmer at all costs to becoming a leading voice in the conversation."
More than four years after the interim rule comment period closed, the USDA has announced it will issue a final rule amending the Class III and Class IV product price formulas in all federal milk marketing orders.
The decision will finalize the interim partial final rule with no changes to the price formulas that USDA announced in August 2008 and implemented two months later.
RSS
