This issue contains updated information about how proposed immigration reform impacts your dairy business. Most dairymen are likely pleased with the proposals in a Senate bill introduced in late April.

I recently met an acquaintance at Western Dairy Management Conference in Reno, Nevada, last month. (Click here to see our recap of the event).

Near the end of our conversation, he thanked me for the thoughts expressed on this page each issue. He said, “I know it’s not easy to come up with something that is meaningful to say every issue. But your comments are thought-provoking.”

Earlier this year, I attended PDPW’s annual Managers Academy. Last issue, I wrote about one of the topics the three-day program addressed – leadership. In light of recent events, I think the seminar’s other main topic needs special attention – crisis management.

Remember these two recent events: A half-hour blackout at the Super Bowl. A disabled, partially flooded Carnival cruise ship towed for several days into port.

Talk of immigration reform is growing louder. And for the first time since 2007, Congress acts like it may debate the issue again.

Progressive Dairyman doesn’t have a Washington, D.C. bureau office. Unfortunately, dairy issues don’t grab elected officials’ attention often enough to warrant one. But this past New Year’s Eve, I wished we would have had just a cubicle there.

Happy New Year!

Two months have passed since I last wrote on this page. Some of you have responded with advice to my last published editorial titled: “Do I really need to loosen up?”

One reader wrote me to say: “Don’t loosen up, Walt. That’s your edge … keeps people just a little off-guard and on their best behavior.”