From the Editor

It started with a press release from the USDA titled “USDA Announces Safety Net Assistance for Milk Producers Due to Tightening Dairy Margins.”

More than a year ago, we began preparing for a redesign of our magazine. I would liken the process to the planning that might go into a parlor renovation or a calf barn update. There were many opinions about how it should be done and what was best.

In January, my fiancé, Scott, started trying to convince me that we needed to purchase the house right next to his family’s business. He plans to run the company someday and having our home next door would be pretty handy, he said.

Well, with one exception: That many dollar bills would be nice. And dairy producers could use a stack of money about that high right now.

I can always tell when milk prices are painful, as the number of letters to the editor increases and the blame for low prices gets shared more widely.

For this issue, I set out to feature two dairies’ cross-ventilated barns. I went out to visit them with an agenda: to write an article about each one, highlighting their newly constructed barn.

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.