Have you ever noticed some strange mastitis on your farm? And when you treat it, it doesn't seem to improve? Or it just keeps coming back? This is most likely because you are treating it incorrectly.

Ask a dairy farmer how things are going, and I bet you’ll get a familiar answer: “We’re still holding on,” which is the polite way of saying “It’s really hard right now. We’re struggling to make ends meet. We don’t know how much longer we can do this, but we’re praying something changes soon.”

I live for my morning routine. I wake up, drink my coffee with extra cream and sugar, drive six and a half minutes to the farm and put on my muck boots. Next, I’ll pick a playlist based off my mood for the day and pop in my headphones. I walk down to the dry cow barn and inspect every cow. I’m looking for cows that may need birthing assistance.

Don’t ever feel like you have to hide your sensitivity. Your empathy gives you the ability to detect details that would have gone unnoticed, like that calf who just doesn’t seem herself today. You have a heart – and it’s OK to listen to it.

I usually tend to reflect on the various changes we made on the farm at the end of the year; weighing the pros and cons of our adjustments. This year though, I realized the biggest transformation on the farm was me.

Did you know that if you go to YouTube and search the word “dairy,” the first video that comes up is one titled, “Dairy is Scary”? And if you click, you can watch a video telling you why you shouldn’t drink milk.

Starting next week, I begin training a new calf feeder at Cedar-Pine Farm. The title of calf feeder has been mine for six years, and believe me – I am ready to give it up!