Meet Kay Faherty, Trade Show Manager, World Dairy Expo

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It was the moment many parents who have daughters fear. My daughter sat me down and said, “We need to talk.”

When Zachary Damrow first moved to Idaho, youth involvement in the dairy show industry was very minimal – and over the years, it continued to decline. After he and his wife had their two children, Callen and Dawson, Damrow felt inspired to ensure there would be something meaningful for them to be a part of.

Through many McCarty generations of hard work, they have built and expanded onto their dairy to become more sustainable. Three McCarty generations share their roles on the dairy today and what they have accomplished.

Agrihood is part of an increasing recognition that the way food is produced is important, and while many residents may still not be getting their hands dirty, they are at least encouraging local, small-scale production. The model allows some farming ventures to make a reasonable income while bridging the urban-rural divide. In total, agrihoods are a growing option for those who want to be closer to civic agriculture.

When we bought this farm, there was a small old heifer shed up on the hill west of our barn. It was in bad shape, but we used it for a number of years to house our mid-sized heifers.

When I was growing up life was simple. It was easy to navigate the mores of society. In the movies, the bad guys always wore black hats, and the good guys always wore white hats.

In this episode, Dr. Doug Waterman from Virtus Nutrition explains how management and nutritional strategies influence uterine involution and overall reproductive success in dairy cows. With today’s high value on herd replacements and beef-on-dairy calves, every pregnancy matters more than ever – making proactive transition cow management essential.