By the time you read this, “we the people” will have elected (and not happily, I might add) one more U.S. president. Some say voting is the ultimate exercise in democracy. However, it’s also been said, “You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in.” Volunteers are builders.

It’s winter. You just got home from the farm sale across the county where you bought a low-hour tractor preloaded with precision ag electronics. You got a great deal on it. You pull into the driveway and what’s the first thing you do? Call your brother to gloat? Well, okay, maybe … but your second call should be to your insurance agent.

An October report from the USDA Economic Research Service says in the early 2000s, the adoption rate of some technologies began to outpace others.

Two hundred is the number to remember. The White family milks 950 Holsteins at Kinnamon Ridge Dairy near Reedsburg, Wisconsin. In 2015, Jerry White planted a newly released, reduced-lignin alfalfa (non-genetically engineered variety). Always looking for ways to improve forage quality, he experimented on 5 acres to see how the new product would perform.

Interest in reduced-lignin alfalfa has producers wondering, “Should I grow it?” and dairymen wondering, “Will it give me more milk? And how should I feed it?” David Weakley, director of forage nutrition research for Forage Genetics International, discussed reduced-lignin alfalfa at a World Dairy Expo 2016 seminar.

CBC News in Canada reports a new alfalfa will hit Canadian markets in February. The new alfalfa is reported to be drought and flood resistant, even hoof resistant, and high yielding.

The unsavory truth is that the 21st century may be marked in history as the advertising age. Marketing has not always been unsavory, and it’s certainly not new. Christopher Columbus (Italian by birth) got Spain to finance his sailing explorations, and even though he missed his target destination, he has a national holiday designation and is mentioned in every history book.