Growing up on the small, 40-cow registered Holstein farm that my parents still operate in rural southwestern Wisconsin, I never imagined where future travels might take me.

It almost seems impossible that I have been managing Cedar Pine Farm for five years now. I remember walking onto the farm on that chilly November day. We were milking around 300 cows and feeding 30 calves. These days we are quickly approaching 500 milking and 100 calves.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council, primarily funded by dairy farmers through their dairy checkoff investment, helps enhance the global demand for U.S. dairy products and ingredients. These efforts work. In fact, one in seven milk tankers leaving American farms reaches customers and consumers internationally through exported dairy products and ingredients.

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Pests can be costly to dairy farmers due to disease transmission and irritation. Whether pests feed upon animals or are simply a nuisance, they can reduce milk production and decrease weight gains.

Tucked away in a pleasant little valley on the outskirts of Westminster, Maryland, a little old barn has found a big new purpose.

Computer vision technology tested on California dairyPublished: Feb. 2, 2017 enewsletter and Feb. 25, 2017 print issue Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley featured Maddox Dairy in Riverdale, California, and their adoption of Cainthus computer vision technology.

Years ago, the farmer-funded dairy promotion checkoff moved from a generic advertising approach to a strategy of working with powerful partners with like values who would invest with us and help advance dairy farmers’ interests in doing good things for the world and doing good business for themselves.

1. Describe your farm. PETERS: My parents, Jeff and Janet Peters, brother (Cole) and I own and operate a dairy farm in northwestern Pennsylvania called Spruce Row Farm.

The U.S. dairy herd has a head start on what is expected to be a growth year in 2017, based on the USDA’s semi-annual estimate of dairy cows and heifers. However, dairy replacement heifers numbers are down slightly, and more heifers will be exported in 2017.