Early in my veterinary career I developed a respect for the machinery used to restrain large beasts. No, I’m not thinking of ropes, twitches or even classic music in the dairy barn, although at one time or another I have used them all.

A recent article published on January 13, 2008, in the New York Times written by Andrew Martin was titled: “In the Farm Bill, a Creature from the Black Lagoon.” The premise of the article: Federal taxpayer dollars should not be spent on construction costs for a waste storage facility on a large livestock farm, especially those that are expanding.

Dairy operations are affected by environmental regulations related to both air and water quality. Air and water issues have been identified and regulated since the 1960s, though dairy operations and agriculture in general were not identified as major sources of problems until the past decade.

On July 2, 2007, gas in a manure pit claimed the lives of five people on a Virginia farm. The victims included a 34-year-old farmer who climbed down into the pit to unclog a pipe and was overcome by manure gas.

This issue begins what I hope will be a tradition for our magazine in the future. We highlight how some women in the dairy industry have made a direct impact on their dairy and how motivated women might be able to contribute more both to their dairy and to the dairy industry.

More milk in South Dakota recently spurred award-winning Davisco Foods, an international company that supplies a major portion of Kraft Foods cheese products, to complete a $40 million expansion project at their Lake Norden, South Dakota, cheese plant in anticipation of continued growth in the state’s dairy industry.

Dairy farming is undergoing striking changes. In the 1970s, a large dairy farm had a herd of 100 milk cows. Typically, the family operating the farm provided most of the labor and grew most of the herd’s feed on the farm. While thousands of such farms remain in operation, their numbers, as well as their production methods, are in sharp decline.

Power outages caused by snow, ice and high winds can raise havoc with farm businesses, which rely on electric motors, pumps and compressors to run equipment for milking, feeding, cooling and other tasks. To keep their operations running despite the weather, many farmers own standby generators to get them through electrical interruptions.

Imagine for a moment that you are competing against the best archer in the world. He can hit the bull’s eye with one arrow, and then with his next shot, split the first arrow down the middle! Did you know that you could outshoot this archery pro?

Fostering a teamwork ethic within a dairy operation enhances employee effectiveness. Forming a team is easy, but in reality, actual functioning as a team is a difficult task. Teams are made up of different types of individuals that must bring their collective strengths together for the benefit of the whole.