This seems like a simple question. Most of us know what hat we are wearing at any given time. However, if we need a refresher, looking in the mirror is easy enough. It is not that simple when it comes to separating the different roles people fill when running a small/medium business.

As a college student in the early 1970s, I remember being fascinated by a study carried out by social anthropologists Barry, Child and Bacon in the 1950s. They studied 46 societies to understand how modes of food production lead to different child-rearing practices and personality traits.

Have you ever had the opportunity to tour differing dairy farms through your co-op? It’s really interesting to observe how farms do certain routine procedures on regular tasks in unique ways. It may be that you notice how certain workers seem to have a gentle hand when working directly with the cows.

Sometimes the overwhelming demands of farming cause the entire body to slump at the kitchen table. Worn hands stroke graying hair, and eyes are reddened and glassy. Farming is one of those businesses where you live at your workplace.

A hat has many uses: It shields our eyes from the sun’s glare, it protects the top of our heads and in many cases serves as a fashion accessory. Ask any devoted hat wearer, and they will have a favorite hat, a hat they are known by.

Twenty years ago, while out checking his drowning crops, fourth-generation dairy farmer Jerry Nelson decided to write a letter to his county extension agent. That tongue-in-cheek letter can now be found in his recently published book, Dear County Agent Guy: Calf Pulling, Husband Training and Other Curious Dispatches from a Midwestern Dairy Farmer.

The genetic code for all of life is written using just four letters: A,G, C and T. Armed with a powerful gene-editing tool known as CRISPR, humans can now erase and rewrite small segments of this code to generate big impacts in scientific fields from medicine to agriculture.

Dairy production in 2016 is a high-tech affair. Robotics aid milking, computerization keeps product quality consistent, and information is a mere few clicks away. Communication, too, has joined the high-tech realm.

Strapped for cash this year, farmers are looking for new ways to manage their bottom-line expenses. Buying brand-new equipment can be expensive and is not cost-effective if not used every day. Farmers today are facing pressure to rethink their balance sheet and get the most bang for their buck.

“FIRE!” Chris and Rikki Van Dyk and Chris’ parents, John and Eileen, of West Croix Genetics near New Richmond, Wisconsin, started the afternoon on Aug. 4, 2015, with such a shout.