Guest Blog

I head to the calf barn in the morning dressed in pants, a sweatshirt and a stocking hat. My attire for afternoon feeding includes a T-shirt and shorts. This can only mean one thing: Fall has arrived.

Energy is generally in high demand and short supply during a challenging season, and 2020 continues throwing one crisis and challenge after another at us. On top of everyday stressors, there is an extra layer of stress due to natural disasters, pandemic-related regulations affecting farms and the overall turmoil occurring in cities across America. It is a lot to handle and can take a toll.

My story began at 6 years old when a little calf started my love of cows. And it continued on for many years when I showed dairy cattle in 4-H. Every friendship that ever lasted was created at a county fair, showing cows. My first job was at 7 years old, feeding calves.

Sustainability is something the farming community hears a lot about – often described as making people, profits and the planet the priorities. That can seem overwhelming for dairy farmers as they try to make money, understand what customers want, protect water quality and tell the community about what they do and why.

Have you had to pay an overproduction penalty in the last few months? Production caps, milk quota, rolling base pounds – whatever you want to call it. Having a monthly limit on production is gaining more traction across milk processors even if the rules are not applied uniformly.

Year 2020 – what a time to be alive. Can we all agree that this has been one of the worst years ever? It hasn’t been my favorite.