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Elizabeth (Betsy) Fleury and her husband, Steve, spend each Christmas Eve discussing how their year went, and each New Year’s Eve planning for the next 12 months on their farm in Richford, Vermont.
Their farm motto always has been “Get better, not bigger,” and when the couple sold their 35 registered Jersey dairy cows at the end of 2014, Betsy says this tough decision fell right in line with that mode of thinking.
Capital costs and quality calf care go hand-in-hand. You can’t have one without the other; there will always be a financial impact following the building of a new calf barn or improvements to an existing one.
Any farmer will agree that it’s a necessity ... but not always a welcome one. Calf housing is expensive, and to make the most of each dollar spent, farmers must walk the line between calf care and out-of-pocket costs.
Crop prices have been good the last few years. This year’s harvest is predicted to take a different direction, however, and the trend of equipment sharing is looking to re-surge. The practice was strong after the recession in 2008 and waned in recent seasons.
If you’ve ever seen the movie The Internship and are familiar with the World Wide Web, you probably were laughing at the scene where Vince Vaughn’s character kept saying “on the line” rather than “online.”
It demonstrated the generational, technological gap that exists in today’s culture, albeit it can be argued that is changing. Many young dairy farmers are spending time online for a variety of reasons, using this large source of information to benefit their businesses and also to connect with colleagues.
“Prancing, Dancing Lily” lives on One Dairy Road in Ayrshire, Wisconsin, and soon realizes she is not the bell cow the other cows expect her to be.
She leaves the farm and tries to find her place by traveling the world and trying all sorts of dances, from the kick-line at Rockefeller Center to a ballet in Russia.
“Cows” is the common language spoken every year at World Dairy Expo, says the show’s marketing manager, Liz Matzke. Whether in the show ring, on the commercial exhibit floor or online at the expo’s website or Facebook page, “cow” is the talk.
The more than 10,300 World Dairy Expo Facebook fans, nearly 300 Pinterest enthusiasts and 1,700 followers on Twitter can attest to the language of Expo because they all speak it, now even more so with the annual show approaching in a few short weeks.
