Blogs

It was just a few weeks ago I finally got the call. The one I knew would someday come but still wasn’t quite prepared to receive.

Farm security is not always top of mind for producers, but unfortunately, it’s necessary to protect the safety of your animals, people on your property and your livelihood. Animal rights activists will go to great lengths to portray animal agriculture negatively, ranging from getting hired to record misleading videos to trespassing to holding large-scale protests at farms.

At the Dairy Strong conference on Jan. 23, award presenter Laurie Winkelman painted a picture of someone who invests money, time and resources into promoting dairy farming and bettering the community, even in ways that don’t seem to be related to dairy farming.

I am a dairy farmer who didn’t grow up on a farm, but I always had some desire to be around dairy cattle from exposure to my dad’s family farm as a small child. That seed planted in my heart as a kid led me to join FFA, and my friends who grew up on farms were pretty willing to let me tag along and help with chores from time to time. I learned so much from not only helping with chores, but also from their parents and grandparents.

A little over a week ago, our farm welcomed a TV crew onto the farm. We have had film crews on the farm, but filming a show for a national network is a whole new beast. The entire experience is intense and goes quickly. There are also a lot of people involved in filming a show.

When I heard of goat yoga, I thought the tree huggers had lost their minds. I thought there was no way this was real. I was wrong – first time ever.