The yellow leaves of autumn are sprinkling the trees. Soon they will be full-blown orange and red. The world will be a panorama of beauty. Summer will be forgotten, and thoughts of winter will come with the chill of breezes that shake the dappled trees. It makes me think of a Shakespeare sonnet I memorized in an acting class when I was in college.

I recently returned from World Dairy Expo, cautiously optimistic about the dairy industry in 2011. Plans for dairy policy and pricing reform continue to be discussed. Your opinion on how soft or hard a position the U.S. should take will determine whether you support “market” management or “supply” management for the future. Two very clear sides of this issue are developing. Undoubtably, supporters on both sides will get more and more strident in supporting their causes and opinions. Will partisanship tear the industry in two just like it has U.S. politics? It could. I hope not.

Dairy Policy Action Coalition lobbyist and spokesman Dennis Wolff recently spoke with Progressive Dairyman Editor Walt Cooley about the Pennsylvania-based organization’s agenda to ‘clean up’ dairy policy. Wolff discusses the group’s recent efforts to lobby Congress to increase the frequency of dairy product price reporting. Q. How did DPAC get started? WOLFF: A group of dairy farmers started it about 10 months ago with the help of Bernie Morrisey and Sherry Bunting. This was basically a group of producers who wanted less talk and more action. That would be the reason why it is called the Dairy Policy Action Coalition.

As I have worked with the Boy Scouts, I have gained a greater appreciation for the Constitution, and for the Founding Fathers, who set up this nation of free people. I am one of those people who believe that Jesus Christ had a hand in setting up the Constitution. I believe the Founding Fathers spent a great deal of time on their knees communicating with Deity.

I have been home from Iraq now for two months. Taking some leave time – what we call decompression – and getting started in my new position at the Civilian Response Corps fills the days. And, of course, I am enjoying flying my Mooney airplane. As of this writing, it is sitting in a hanger in Willmar, Minnesota. During an annual inspection (which is required), an engine casing fracture was found, so the aircraft is grounded for six weeks while repairs are done. In this article, I comment on the Middle East region that has been my life the last four years. The news is mixed.

Earlier today in a conversation, someone told me that what is happening to the rate of decline in number of dairies in the U.S. is shocking. Yes, many dairy farm families are struggling and have left the business. But is the rate of decline in number of dairies in production really "shocking"? The decade rate of decline in dairy operations for the past decade (from 2000 through the most recent data available which is 2009) is 38 percent. However, this decade rate of decline is actually slower than that of the previous decade in the 1990s (42 percent) and also slower than the 1980s (39 percent).

Thanks to all those who continue to share their opinions about what you believe is necessary to create true dairy reform. Although our summer-long poll about support for front-running plans has closed, we will continue to follow developments surrounding dairy reform. This magazine features three pages of updates, including news about the Specter-Casey Bill, Foundation for the Future program and the Dairy Price Stabilization Act. For sure, more updates will be forthcoming. Whether you’ve decided that an existing plan has your vote of confidence for reform or are still undecided, please vote in our current poll. We’re asking: “Have you decided what plan you support as the best option for dairy reform?”

The following are comments from the Dairy Price Forum that took place Aug. 18 in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The event, sponsored by Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation and the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW), focused on addressing price volatility in a global dairy market, preparing for the 2012 Farm Bill and looking at the Foundation for the Future plan. Miranda Leis Dairy producer Monroe County, Wisconsin “The other option of a quota program is really a non-option for our farm and so too I feel for the future of the American dairy industry. I feel that a quota program would stifle expansion and would severely impede our ability to establish our position as a premier supplier on the world dairy market … When I look into the eyes of my children I am not content to let this current system, which does not serve farmers, continue to exist unchanged. If we do not at least attempt to enact change I can’t say with any certainty there will be a place in the market for my children.”

The oldest family farm in the U.S. will be sold. The Tuttle family has owned the farm in Dover, New Hampshire, for nearly 400 years. The news article appeared in many national press newspapers including the New York Times (published Aug. 1, 2010). The agricultural and naturalist writer Merlyn Klinkenborg wrote of the sale in his weekly column.