As wives, mothers, “farmHers” and other off-farm professionals, we tend to get caught up in the day-to-day activities that go along with each of those roles. We can barely keep up with laundry and vacuuming. There’s the never-ending bookwork, low commodity prices, battling the weather, restless children, and the list could go on.

In June 2017, we embarked on what was going to be a roller-coaster ride for the next 16 months. It was that summer our dairy equipment company representative took the family on our first tour of robotic milking barns. We had started on the journey to modernize our dairy. As we went through the planning and construction, we learned many things. I want to share with you some of the things that we learned.

As you drive the rolling hills of southwest Wisconsin along Highway 18 just east of Fennimore and glance to the south, you will notice a new building dotting the skyline.

“Trust no one.” “Always trust your instinct.” “Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart.” There are people who have betrayed us who we can’t trust, and there are others whom we would give our PIN number. As we look at our farms, how much trust do you have with your family, business partners, employees and even your advisory team?

On various social media sites, the discussion of whether or not to compensate kids for farmwork comes up a few times a year. There are different ways to look at this, and I want to share with you how we handle this in our family.

“I don’t have the time for that,” is a common phrase I hear when encouraging fellow farmers to get involved with professional organizations. There is always an excuse about the busyness of farming and life that seems to trump professional organizations. An excuse is just that – an excuse. I would like to share with you a few reasons why you can’t afford to not be involved with professional organizations.

It’s that time of the year when people gather and listen to hear how things are going. As citizens, we listen to our governors and the president talk about how our states and country are doing. As farmers, we attend cooperative annual meetings, agronomy listening sessions and more to find out if the cooperative had a good year or what the results were from last year’s test plots.

As a new year rolls in, the big question is always, “What is your resolution?” Some people want to exercise more, eat less, spend less money, save more, spend more time with family and the list can go on.

There are challenges every dairy faces. Oftentimes you problem solve, think you have the problem fixed, only to discover a new problem.

If you give a kid a halter, he’ll ask for a calf. Because who wants to jump rope with a halter? It’s best used to walk a calf around. If you give a kid a calf, he’ll ask for some feed. After all, calves are like you and me. They need plenty of food and water to grow big and beautiful.