The second weekend in June, I spent about four hours talking to consumers at a local Dairy Days event with Midwest Dairy. The goal was to share information about dairy farming and dairy products with consumers in our community. Our booth was frequented by mostly parents with young children.

When a New York City-based public relations firm called my cellphone earlier this year to extend an invitation to interview Texas dairyman Donald De Jong, I took notice. Few dairy producers I’ve met before have communications professionals on retainer, especially ones who work in the Big Apple.

Editor’s note: A recent upgrade to our website, Progressive Dairyman, also meant an upgrade in our online commenting system. Check out some recent reader questions and the authors’ responses. Visit the site today to ask a question on any article or leave a comment for the author.

There seems to be two viewpoints when it comes to grazing. It is either grain is poison, or grass is poison. Maybe those are just the loudest voices from either end of the spectrum, and we don’t hear much from the views that lie somewhere in the middle.

My daughter is getting married at the end of the month. Everything is a flurry of preparation. The traditional wedding quilt is almost finished, and we are preparing for the journey to Wisconsin, where she will be married.

There’s an old gag in my family that started off as what they interpreted as an annoying habit. Thanks to 4-H and National Holstein Conventions, I was able to visit a few states and the landmarks in them. When I saw one of those places on the television, I would point out that I’ve been there.

On a recent trip to the grocery store, I found the following labels on milk and yogurt packaging: no artificial growth hormones, no rBST, no antibiotics, raised without antibiotics, humanely raised, animal welfare-approved, organic, vegetarian-fed, pasture-raised, grass-fed, sustainable, certified pesticide residue-free, no toxic pesticides, environmentally responsible, all natural, GMO-free, gluten-free, A1 protein-free, from family farms and farm-raised.

Last week, I received a letter from my insurance company explaining safety tips for using fireworks on the farm. At first I thought, “What kind of insurance company would actually encourage pyrotechnics on the farm?”

Lately, my social media pages have been flooded with pool pics, airport check-ins and requests for hotel recommendations – it’s summer time! Vacation season! But we’re dairy farmers, and with the current state of milk prices, we’ll be lucky to get away for 24 hours.

In Michigan, summer is well on its way. We are actually just finishing out a week in the 80s, which isn't very common for early summer. With summer comes heat abatement concerns. So often we are concerned with the cows, but calves should also be a concern during the summer.