Age: 57 Location: Bentonville, Arkansas My dairy’s history: (# of generations, family members, etc.) I’m a third-generation dairy producer. In April 1972, I assumed major dairy operations after my dad took on a full-time job and told me I could either “milk or sell.” Today, my wife, Susan; our two sons, Cody and Casey; and I milk 300 cows and also have an Angus beef operation.

This is the concluding segment on electrical systems. In the future, however, I will be discussing specific areas of electrical systems. The battery, starter and alternator are the three electrical team players. Without them, nothing will happen. In past columns, we have discussed the battery and the starter. Now we’ll move on to alternators. Batteries only last a certain period of time and you can only make so many starts. Not only that, when the battery starts the engine, the energy taken from the battery storage has to be replenished. The alternator is the part that restores energy back into the battery in a safe manner.