Guest Blog

When did weaning calves become a race? Except it’s not a race to see who can wean them quickest; it feels like we’re bragging as to who can leave them on milk longer. Lately, it feels like farmers are trying to raise bigger calves. But is bigger better? Shouldn’t we be striving for more productive, efficient calves?

I love Progressive Dairyman magazine; there is so much high-quality information in there that I barely get it read before the next edition arrives! “Progressive” sounds like a positive word, but what does it mean? I found a few definitions, but the one I like most is “favoring or promoting progress.” Progressive Dairyman lives up to its name. Its pages are often filled with information and ideas to bring about positive change; I like that.

We all love to answer the question, “What are your favorite dairy products?” Your eyes glaze over and your mind instantly shifts to heaping bowls of ice cream, the cheese board at your cousin’s wedding last year or the doctored-up bowl of yogurt you annihilated for breakfast this morning.

It is no secret that humans are emotional beings. We naturally are moved by sensational content that pulls at our heart strings or scares us into action. This is the template that animal and environmental activist groups have been using to captivate audiences for years, and they are successfully swaying public perception through emotionally charged material and skewed data.

I’ve learned over the years from growing up on a dairy farm and being married to a dairy farmer that dairy farmers tend to live in a bubble. We all hang out with other dairy families. We live in rural communities where most people have a connection to agriculture.

For those of you who read my first blog, you know the excitement I had to become a full-time dairy farmer. If you didn’t read it, long story short, I left an excellent job to come back to a physical job with longer hours and less pay, and I couldn’t wait to get started!