Milk price and feed costs drive margins at the farm level. Certainly, sources of revenue other than milk and expenses other than feed impact profitability – but not of the same magnitude.

For this issue, I set out to feature two dairies’ cross-ventilated barns. I went out to visit them with an agenda: to write an article about each one, highlighting their newly constructed barn.

Land O’Lakes Inc. and its seed and crop input brand, WinField, recently partnered with Fair Oaks Farms, a 30,000-plus-cow dairy in Fair Oaks, Indiana, to build a 12,000-square-foot exhibit on the dairy’s agritourism campus.

Dairy has been a mainstay ingredient on McDonald’s menu since the quick-service restaurant’s beginning more than 60 years ago.

How dairy farmers feel about their 2015 net financial results will depend on what part of the country they are located. Table 1 summarizes the net revenues for 2015 by region.

Managers tell me all the time: “I’ve been managing the same people for some time now. I realize now that I’ve been too hands-off. Is it even possible to change my whole management style after all this time?

A lot of my clients use a phrase: “A tiger can’t change its stripes.” I strongly disagree with this concept. Farming is a business which causes you to be humble and daily teaches you lessons.

As an architect, I’m often asked to envision the “barn of the future.” I reply that the future is here, considering the availability of robotic milking stalls, herd management software, cow and milk monitoring systems, along with a myriad of other solutions.

A Wisconsin dairy’s new barn captures the advantages of a traditional cross vent but with an innovative design: adjustable curtain baffles to control air flow.

At Trillium Hill Dairy, things are really starting to “flow” – cow flow, air flow and work flow – thanks to a new cross-ventilated barn with a unique design.