Guest Blog

People need real challenges in life, especially young people; they need to learn to press on even when the going is extremely difficult.

Holding a managerial role as a millennial can be intimidating and rewarding. Over the past few years, I have progressed into a management position at my family farm. Like any position, you learn a lot as you go.

Have you seen the little NIR (near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy) device that fits in your pocket for instant dry matter sampling? I started looking into the SCiO device – commercially known as Reveal – as a replacement to drying every feed sample for an hour twice a week.

Ninety-seven percent of dairy farms in the U.S. are owned by families, and Coronado Dairy in Wilcox, Arizona, fits into that statistic. But what makes Coronado different, is that collective ownership is offered to the many families that work on the dairy farm.

Too often in life, we divide ourselves into two sides on an issue. A quick browse on my Facebook newsfeed, and this definitely seems to be the case. Even in the dairy industry, we polarize ourselves – sometimes without trying.

Editor’s Note: This column is submitted by Chuck Nicholson, an adjunct associate professor in the college of agriculture and life sciences at Cornell University and a former clinical associate professor of supply chain management at Penn State University. Nicholson is one of three economists who contributed to the 2017 “Study to Support Growth and Competitiveness of the Pennsylvania Dairy Industry,” commissioned by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the Center for Dairy Excellence.