Milk - General

The Grace of the Stillness: A Lesson in Healing

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 14:00:28 GMT

In the span of just two weeks, the rhythm of my life was violently disrupted, replaced by a forced stillness that I never saw coming. It began on the evening of February 27, when a black truck turned left directly into my vehicle’s path. The impact was high-velocity and terrifying, painting my mid-section with a map of deep purple contusions and bruising that stretched from hip to hip. But as I sat in the quiet aftermath of deployed airbags and twisted metal, my physical pain was eclipsed by a profound sense of luck. My husband and I walked away. We were alive. We were discharged to go home. The script of that night could have been written very differently, and we knew it.

However, survival was only the first chapter. Just a few days later, I moved from the trauma of the near-fatal accident into the sterile reality of a planned surgery — one that carried a daunting eight-week recovery timeline. Suddenly, the woman who is used to directing the flow of a busy household and a demanding career found herself anchored to a bed, restricted by a 10 lb. lifting limit and the heavy fog of pain medication and fatigue.

Then, as if to test the very limits of my resolve, the sky turned white. A spring blizzard swept across the farm, bringing with it the biting wind and heavy snow that demands every hand on deck. From my window, I watched the world turn cold while my home hummed with a different kind of energy. Because it was spring break, all of my children were home. And because of the elements that Mother Nature graced us with, they were outside, plowing snow, bedding calf huts and taking over the extra chores that define farm life in a storm.

The Weight of the “Mind Over Matter” Mantra

As I watched them, a heavy, suffocating sense of guilt filled the room. I wanted to be out there. I wanted to be of service, to be the one hauling the buckets or — at the very least — the one standing over a hot stove preparing a meal for the exhausted crew coming in from the cold. Growing up on a farm, often we are raised on a steady mantra “mind over matter.” Farm women are legendary for their toughness. We are the ones who push through the flu, the ones who work until the job is done, the ones who equate our value with our productivity.

But as I lay there, sore and exhausted, I realized my toughness was being called upon in a way I hadn’t practiced before. I had to learn the foreign concept of extending grace to myself.

Strength Through Grace

I had to understand rest isn’t a lapse in character. It is a required ingredient for a future of service. To truly lead my family and my community, I had to lead by example in the art of self-care. I had to embrace the season of stillness I was in, allowing my body and mind to knit themselves back together. I had to accept that for this brief moment in time, the most productive thing I could do was to kick my feet up and sleep.

It is so much easier said than done. It feels like a betrayal of our nature to let others wait on us. Yet there is a sacredness in allowing those you have spent your life serving to serve you in return. It allows them to grow, and it allows you to heal.

If you find yourself in a season where you are doing “less,” please listen to your body and your doctor. Do not mistake rest for weakness. Whether you are recovering from a literal collision or the metaphorical storms of life, remember the farm will stand, the chores will get done, the farm family will manage to find something to eat and the world will keep turning. Allow yourself the grace to be still. For once, let the help come to you. Because in the end, that is the only way we truly heal.

Don’t Push Pause: How a Near-Fatal Accident Made Our Farm Succession Plan Crystal Clear

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 14:57:35 GMT

The last Friday in February was supposed to be a victory lap for a winter well-spent. It was a rare 65°F gift from the Illinois sky. The kind of afternoon where the sun feels like a promise of the spring to come.

My husband, Scott, and our youngest son, Jacob, spent the afternoon moving cattle between sites. It’s a project that usually takes three or four hours, and as any farmer knows, the cattle rarely cooperate. But Jacob did. He was right there, shoulder-to-shoulder with his dad. Our oldest son, Tyler, was home from college for the weekend, helping on the dairy with cattle work. It was one of those perfect, productive days where everyone was basking in the sunshine, the rhythm of the farm moving in a steady, beautiful cadence.

When the clock hit 5:00 p.m., Scott was ready to call it a day. Our local high school boys’ basketball team had made it to regionals, and we wanted to be there to cheer them on. We climbed into our SUV, chatting about the chores we’d finished and enjoying the lingering warmth of the day.

We were only a mile from our farm when the world shattered.

It happened in a blink. A truck made a mad dash across the four-lane highway, blindsiding us. There was no time to swerve, no time to brake. The police report would later confirm what we already knew: there was nothing we could have done.

Everyone tells you that life can change in a split second, but until you are sitting in the wreckage of mangled steel, surrounded by a dozen deployed airbags and the smell of gunpowder and dust, you don’t truly understand it. As we hit, I felt the impact vibrate through my very bones. I immediately started to pray. “We will be okay. God, make us okay.”

Through the haze of smoke and shock, Scott’s voice was the only thing I could hear. He was a trooper, his own safety forgotten.

“Karen, are you okay?” he asked, over and over.

I wanted to scream that I was fine. I wanted to tell him I was right there. But the shock was a physical weight. My mouth opened, a moan escaped, but the words were trapped behind a wall of trauma. I couldn’t speak.

The rest of the evening was a blur of sirens, flashing lights and the sterile white walls of the ER. The ambulance took me away; the tow truck took what was left of our vehicle. We spent the night under fluorescent lights, but we walked away. We got to go home.

In the days that followed, a deep, heavy appreciation for life settled over our house. I am thankful to be writing this story, though I would give anything to have never lived it. But the most emotional moment didn’t happen at the crash site; it happened at our farm.

(Karen Bohnert)

Our children asked the question every farm kid fears: “What would happen if both of you had passed?”

I cried. But for the first time, I could answer them with certainty. I told them about the will. I told them it was all outlined, all documented. It took me losing both of my parents and my brother — and writing about other families’ succession plans gone wrong for years — before we finally sat down and finalized our own a decade ago.

I think back to my own parents. It took them losing their own son — my brother — in an automobile accident to finally lean forward and be brave enough to talk about their own will. They put a plan together soon after and revised it a few times over the years. When the time came that we eventually lost our parents, my sisters and I were so incredibly thankful we did not have to worry about the logistics during our grief. My parents had it all documented. They gave us that peace of mind.

Farmers, I am pleading with you: Don’t push pause.

Don’t wait for a sunny day to have the conversation. Or a rain day. The highway doesn’t care about your schedule. Don’t wait because it’s an uncomfortable conversation; it will never get easier. Don’t wait because you aren’t sure what is “fair” or what is “best.”

Start the conversation today. Meet with a lawyer. Get it documented. You can always change and revise it — we already have once since we started.

I am so incredibly thankful that today, my kids are out in the dirt helping on the farm instead of sitting in a lawyer’s office reading a will. I am thankful they didn’t lose their parents on an Illinois highway. But mostly, I am thankful that if the worst had happened, they wouldn’t have been left in the dark.

Don’t wait. Your legacy is too important to leave to chance.

Global Protein Demand Surges 2% Annually as Producers Navigate Volatile Markets

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 19:27:58 GMT

While global protein demand is growing at roughly 2% annually, livestock producers must navigate a complex landscape of regional shifts, disease risks and policy battles that will define the next decade of production.

“The Global Protein Outlook: Demand, Trade and the Supply Picture” panel discussion during this year’s Top Producer Summit brought together experts from the beef, dairy and pork industries to explore demand, trade dynamics and risks facing the livestock industry today.

Beef, dairy and pork experts explain how foreign animal disease and climate extremes threaten herds and what risk-management strategies producers can use to stay profitable.

(Farm Journal)

On the panel were:

Kenny Burdine, University of Kentucky agricultural economist
Stephen Cain, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC)
Renee Strickland, Strickland Ranch & Exports, Inc.
Scott Hays, Missouri Pork Association

Five key takeaways from the discussion include:

1. Global protein demand is structurally strong, driven by population growth, rising incomes and a broad cultural focus on protein.

“Globally, we are seeing an increase in protein demand broadly across the board,” Cain summarizes.

He describes a few demand patterns:

Regions like sub-Saharan Africa and India: demand mainly from more mouths to feed, not big per-capita jumps.
Regions like Southeast Asia and China: both population and per-capita protein consumption have risen sharply.
Developed regions like the U.S. and Europe are in a fortified-protein trend: “We are cramming protein into everything,” Cain describes. “We have protein water on the market now … it’s across the world.”

Plant-based and alternative proteins seem to be a niche.

Burdine explains: “They’ve not taken any market share. It’s still kind of staying in that niche and not impacting the major protein categories.”

Cain adds the dairy alternatives are seeing category declines, with more consumers realizing milk is a whole food compared to the ingredient in an almond beverage.

2. Supply and trade are shifting toward more regionalized production and stronger competitors, but U.S. strengths in productivity and quality remain critical.

On the supply side, Cain explains rising demand does not always translate into equally increasing exports.

“We’ve seen that slow down,” he says. “More of that protein demand is being filled by domestic production, more regionalized players.”

He links this to some pushback against globalism and more inward-looking, domestic strategies. The U.S. remains a key exporter but faces growing regional competition.

Burdine adds while the U.S. has the smallest cow herd since 1961 , productivity gains mean more output per animal. He points out Brazil passed the U.S. as the largest beef producer.

“It’s not that there’s not competition out there, but we absolutely [have] a great advantage here in the states,” he says.

From pork’s perspective, Hays says the U.S. pork supply should stay steady into 2026, while global pork supply is shrinking. He predicts China may decrease 1.4 million sows, Spain is cutting numbers due to African Swine Fever, yet Brazil is continuing to grow its numbers.

3. Risk and resilience — disease, climate extremes and feed quality — are central concerns, making biosecurity, preparedness and careful storage essential.

Hays highlights herd health is the biggest concern for all livestock producers.

“What keeps every producer up is herd health,” he stresses.

He points out to these concerns today:

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS): PRRS causes “very, very significant losses” and takes a multiyear recovery
Foreign animal diseases – African Swine Fever, foot-and-mouth disease and New World screwworm .

“Foot and mouth should scare everybody at this conference,” he stresses. “We would lose all of those exports on all of those products, from dairy to beef to pork.”

From the cattle perspective, Strickland adds climate extremes are a concern for ranchers today.

“I also fear the climate change extremes that we’re all experiencing,” she says. “Extreme drought, extreme rains… that’s really challenging for me as a producer.”

More information about disease challenges facing the livestock producers today:

PRRS ‘Still Sucks’: New Strain Plagues Pork Producers in Ohio

Strategies to Help Raise PRRS-Positive Pigs

Is a World Without PRRS Possible? Two Veterinarians Say ‘Yes’

Help Protect the U.S. from African Swine Fever

African Swine Fever: What it means for America if it were to get into the country

What Do Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreaks in Europe Mean for the U.S.?

The Smell You’ll Never Forget: A Calf Infested with New World Screwworm

New World Screwworm: An Infestation, Not Infection

4. Consumer behavior shows both opportunity and caution: strong protein demand despite high prices, but some trade-down, weaker foodservice and ongoing debates over “ultra-processed” foods.

Burdine compares today’s protein enthusiasm to past diet waves like Atkins and South Beach, but emphasizes: “Consumer trends are always challenging, but it’s the most encouraging in my career.”

Two features about the demand craze he points out are:

How widespread it is across species and products, including eggs.
Price behavior — despite very high retail prices, demand remains strong.

Burdines explains this suggests a deeper, more durable shift for increased protein demand, not just a short-lived fad.

Cain adds in the protein world trade-down due to inflation and increasing costs is real, especially in foodservice.

He notes lower-income consumers pull back on fast food and quick service, which hurts cheese and dairy demand. Cheese consumption, which usually increases about 2% per year, fell 2% last year, which he says is largely due to weaker foodservice traffic.

Burdine adds that trade-down happens across and within species.

Hays emphasizes the new dietary guidelines are a big win for protein and specifically animal protein.

“We’re excited,” he says. “Pork is at the top on the left-hand side, but it’s more about shifting the conversation. We’re moving away from ‘animal fat makes you fat.’ Meat provides hard-to-replace vitamins and minerals, including in the fat portion.”

He did share concern about how ultra-processed concepts are being used.

“We’ve taken this word ‘ultra-processed’, and now it’s a household word. It is the single unit of measure [for] whether or not we should or should not eat something,” Hays says. “And we don’t even know what the definition of it is.”

He explains if ultra-processed is the only metric, a sausage patty and a honey bun look identical, which is misleading for real nutrition decisions.

Cain adds allowing whole milk in schools is a big win, but schools are facing a higher cost than skim and calorie caps that make menu-balancing harder.

5. Strategic actions for producers: robust risk management, efficiency and quality focus, diversification and a commitment to mentoring the next generation.

Cain encourages producers to use risk management and pricing strategies to help make them viable at today’s prices.

“If you’re not economically viable today, you’re not going to be economically viable tomorrow,” he says.

Burdine adds to think about risk management broadly considering price tools and protection from acts of God. This includes biosecurity strategies and insurance.

“Focus on efficiency and quality to stay competitive in good and bad markets,” he stresses.

Hays asks grain producers to protect feed quality. Poorly stored corn or DDGs (dry distillers grains) can create toxin issues that hurt animal performance and reduce demand.

“Your consumer really needs it to be high quality,” he stresses. “And we’ll buy more of it.”

Strickland encourages producers to diversify their income and not put all their eggs in one basket. Her business includes a ranch, export company and a non-ag title search company.

“When one of them is not doing so well, something else bails me out,” she summarizes. “If you’re in a position that you can diversify just a little bit, it can get you through the hard times.”

The final message was a question: Who are you mentoring and investing in? All producers need to consider how they are going to pass information on to the next generation and help them be successful and thrive.

Your Next Reads:
U.S. Cattle Inventory Hits 75-Year Low at 86.2 Million Head
What Do Consumers Buy in the Meat Aisle When Money is Tight?
New Dietary Guidelines Move Food Pyramid Closer to the Farm

Bridging the Beef-on-Dairy Divide

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 19:29:54 GMT

As beef-on-dairy has grown from a new concept to a standard production model, dairy producers, calf ranches and feedlots have found themselves working together more frequently than ever before. And while these partnerships have strengthened communication across the supply chain, disconnects remain.

At the 2025 MILK Business Conference, dairy producers and feedlot managers came together to address some of these pain points. Their conversation highlighted where progress has been made along with the areas where better alignment is still needed.

(Farm Journal)

Colostrum Management

Dairy producers often move beef-on-dairy calves off the farm quickly. But feedlot managers say those first few hours on the dairy, long before a calf is loaded onto a truck, have more impact on long-term health and performance than anything that happens later. How that calf gets started determines whether it enters the feeding system with a strong immune foundation or fighting an uphill battle.

“One of the disconnects that I see across the industry is what happens to that day-old calf,” says Eric Behlke, general manager of Blackshirt Feeders in Nebraska.

He stresses that when a calf misses out on high-quality colostrum, the consequences follow it all the way to the finish. For feedlots paying top dollar for these calves, that early-life setback is hard to overcome.

“The No. 1 predictor of a calf’s health is passive transfer,” Behlke says. “Did that animal receive colostrum? When there is failure of passive transfer or they don’t get colostrum, it is detrimental to their health.”

What frustrates buyers is that the solution is not complicated. Giving beef-on-dairy calves the same care as replacement heifers with timely colostrum, consistent protocols and clean environments is the quickest way to close the performance gap, yet feedlot managers say they still see too many calves entering the system without the foundational immunity needed to thrive.

Two sectors, two languages

Another disconnect is simply the language each sector uses. Dairy and feedlot teams might talk about the same calf, but the terms and phrasing can be different enough to make early conversations a little confusing.

Daniel Vander Dussen, a dairy producer in New Mexico, describes his early experiences selling calves.

“When I first started selling beef-on-dairy, I was selling some calves via video, and we were trying to set up a contract,” he says. “[The crew I was working with] were talking to me about one-way slides, two-way slides and base weights. I had no idea what any of that meant. I needed them to explain it to me in a way that I could understand.”

The terminology, pricing structures and expectations that are standard in the feedlot world can often feel foreign to dairies who have never been part of that marketing system. They do not need a perfectly shared vocabulary, but both sides need to understand what the other is talking about to create value together.

“Any time I had to the opportunity to ask ‘why’ or ‘what does that mean,’ I would,” Vander Dussen says. “It was a chance for me to get a better understanding.”

Sire Selection

Feedlots also wanted to clarify the idea that every beef-on-dairy calf needs to be sired by Angus. While Angus genetics remain a reliable choice, Tony Bryant, director of nutrition, research and analytics at Five Rivers Cattle Feeding emphasizes the best sire is the one that fits both the dairy operation and the needs of the eventual buyer.

“Color is one of the least important drivers on our grid,” he says. “A common misconception is that they all have to be black. That’s not true. There are a lot of advantages from other breeds, too.”

Perhaps the biggest tension point comes down to expectation and investment.

Being Adaptable

Today’s feedlots are investing heavily in beef-on-dairy calves, with prices reaching record highs. That level of spending underscores how much is at stake for both feedlots and dairies, making collaboration and flexibility more important than ever.

“A few months ago, these calves were $1,650. That’s a tremendous investment,” says Tony Lopes, a California dairy producer. “If they are going to spend that much, we need to show up at the table with an open mind.”

According to Lopes, this means being willing to reevaluate long-standing traditions such as genetic providers, sexed-versus-conventional strategies, the amount of beef semen allocated or even the type of beef breeds used.

He notes that what feedlots want most is a partner not just a seller. Someone who asks questions, understands finishing-system goals and adjusts where possible to produce a calf that succeeds through the entire supply chain.

“I’d stress to producers to be willing to reevaluate the way things have always been in order to ensure that the partnership with that transaction is successful,” he adds. “Make sure you’re doing everything within your power to be a good partner and to maintain that customer service relationship.”

The Path Ahead

Beef-on-dairy has evolved into a standard production model for dairy producers across the country, creating new opportunities and challenges for dairies and feedlots alike. Success for both sectors depends on strong communication and a willingness to adapt.

From early calf care to clear expectations and thoughtful genetic decisions, every step matters. Producers who embrace flexibility and focus on building partnerships will be best positioned to deliver healthy, high-performing calves and maintain long-term market relevance. Those who resist change risk falling behind in an increasingly competitive industry.

Why Beef-on-Dairy Is Shaking Up The Dairy Industry Landscape

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 14:06:07 GMT

The dairy industry is evolving, and producers are finding new ways to diversify their operations. For Ken McCarty of McCarty Family Dairy in Kansas, one big innovation has come through the rapid rise of beef-on-dairy practices — transforming what was once considered low-value into a substantial source of income.

“We remember the days when we were trying to sell Holstein bull calves, two for $5, and you couldn’t get rid of them,” McCarty recalled on the U.S. Farm Report live taping at World Dairy Expo. “And, bull calf sales went from something that you basically ignored in your budget to something that really today accounts for, depending on the month in the market, somewhere around 50% of our overall revenue.”

A Sustainable Practice
According to Dan Basse, president of AgResource Company, beef-on-dairy is not a fleeting trend but a long-term solution in an industry seeking stability.

“I don’t think we can get enough mama beef cows to come forward,” Basse says.

He anticipates robust prices in the future, although not consistently at peak levels, still valuable for dairy operations.

“I’m not saying they’re going to stay at $1,400, but I do believe there’s somewhere north of $700 to $800, which is still a lot of money for the dairy operation,” he says.

The 2025 Farm Journal State of the Dairy Industry report echoes this view, with three-quarters of operators engaging in beef-on-dairy methods such as breeding and raising. There’s evidence in semen sales too, with figures showing a 317,000-unit increase in the U.S. by 2024, as reported by the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB).

Added Value
At the 2024 Milk Business Conference, Dale Woerner from Texas Tech highlighted the added value that beef-on-dairy crossbreds bring to the beef supply chain.

“Beef-on-dairy crossbreds have added enough value to the beef supply chain that we should never change what we’re doing,” he asserts, advocating for the continuation of creating crossbred cattle.

Challenges and Concerns
Despite the positive strides in diversification and value addition, the dairy industry faces significant hurdles. Labor remains a critical issue, with a consistent demand for quality and quantity — a luxury dairies can’t afford to ignore given their year-round operations. In fact, immigrant labor contributes to 79% of the U.S. milk supply, underscoring the importance of these workers in sustaining the industry.

“Labor is an ever-present issue within the dairy industry. We’re not afforded the luxury of taking Christmas day off. So, accessing the quantity and quality of labor that we need is a huge concern,” McCarty says.

Market volatility also poses a challenge. McCarty notes the worrying impact of market downturns on rural communities, which are integral to sourcing feed and maintaining vibrant local economies. There’s a growing concern about the long-term effects on communities and the dairy industry’s future prosperity in these uncertain times.

“We’re heavily dependent upon the neighbor next door to source feed from, to keep our communities vibrant,” he says. “When we’re in market downturns like this, we grow very concerned about the long-term impacts that’s going to have on our communities and our ability to have our business prosper in the future.”

The rise of beef-on-dairy practices demonstrates the dairy industry’s adaptability and resilience in the face of challenges. While the path ahead includes obstacles like labor issues and market volatility, innovation in practices such as beef-on-dairy provides a beacon of hope and stability for producers like McCarty, the 2025 Milk Business Leader in Technology winner. Embracing these changes could ensure the vitality of the dairy industry for years to come.

Your Next Read:
Why Dairy Is Dominating: America’s New Billion-Dollar Ag Success Story

Farm Moms: Balance Harvests and Heart with Practical Meal Tips

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 14:19:48 GMT

Harvest time is a season of relentless energy and unwavering dedication. As the roar of a diesel tractor marks the beginning of the summer harvest, some farm families opt for a plan that merges practicality with care. A couple of dairy farm moms share how they have perfected the balancing act of feeding and nurturing their families amidst the busiest times of the year.

The Practical Pioneer: Emily Zweber, Minnesota Farm Mom
In Elko, Minn., dairy mom Emily Zweber has been navigating hay season alongside her husband for over two decades. Her secret? Simple, yet effective meal prep. Over the years, Zweber has discovered special field meals aren’t a necessity.

“If that is your thing, awesome,” she says with encouragement. “But also, if special field meals aren’t your thing, awesome.”

Working side-by-side on their dairy farm with her husband Tim, and their trio of children, Zweber milks 100 grass-fed, organic cows and manages 400 acres. Amidst this, she sends her crew out with lunchboxes filled with “preschool snacks,” designed to be eaten with dirty hands, that can endure a day in a warm lunch box. The selection includes apples, frozen string cheese, veggie pouches, and, of course, the humble PB&J.

Zweber’s message is empowering: farm moms shouldn’t stress over juggling multiple roles. The pressure to achieve perfection is replaced by her mantra to work smarter, not harder.

The Efficient Enthusiast: Kristina Haverkamp, Kansas Farm Mom
Echoing Zweber’s sentiments is Kristina Haverkamp from Seneca, Kan. Juggling a full kitchen in the shop and an acreage of responsibility, Haverkamp keeps her refrigerator stocked with sandwich staples and healthy snacks. The convenience is vital as every load of silage is weighed at their shop.

“I ensure the fridge is stocked with cold water and even cold beer for the end of the day,” Haverkamp shares.

When the workload intensifies, she prepares goody bags with a hot sandwich and additional snacks. For Haverkamp, it’s all about maintaining momentum and boosting morale.

Despite her busy schedule of chores, she orchestrates this routine seamlessly. Her efforts ensure everyone is content, allowing the farming operations to continue without a hitch.

“Hats off to all of us who work in acres not hours,” Haverkamp declares, celebrating the tireless spirit of farm moms everywhere.

Zweber and Haverkamp showcase a common truth among farm moms across the U.S. – efficiency without sacrificing heart. As farm wives and mothers become increasingly busy this time of year, there’s a gentle reminder from these seasoned experts: it’s perfectly okay to work smarter.

Best Tips
Cooking for a crowd doesn’t have to be a burden. In fact, some of the best meals are born from simplicity and a touch of innovation. Whether it’s a one-pot wonder, a quick bite between tasks, or a hearty dish that fuels the entire team, your tips can transform the way we see meal preparation — not just as a chore, but as a way to nourish our community.

So, fellow farm warriors, what’s your favorite field meal snack or tip? Truth be told, most moms hate the question, “What’s for dinner?” So, when the meal load becomes heavy — as we are not only feeding our families, but also the crew helping us farm — let’s rally together, supporting each other through the rhythmic dance of farming and family life.

Your Next Read:
The Strategy Behind an Eight-Generation Dairy Legacy

Dairy and Beef-on-Dairy Cattle Sizzling Market Has Found a New Balance

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 14:15:31 GMT

The dairy cattle market, according to Jake Bettencourt, manager of Turlock Livestock Auction Yards (TLAY) Video Sales, has been experiencing a period of steadiness over the past six to eight months. While the trend over the past two years has shown a rise in the value of dairy replacements and beef-on-dairy cattle, the market seems to have found its balance. This positive stability is crucial for the dairy industry, allowing for growth and expansion, particularly in the Midwest and upper Midwest regions.

According to Bettencourt, dairy replacements prices seem to have settled, however, beef on dairy crosses not so much.

“The trend for the last two years or better has been the value of these dairy replacements were getting higher and higher,” Bettencourt says. “And for the last six to eight months, it just feels like we’ve kind of found a place to settle.”

A Conservative Approach to Growth
Internally, at TLAY, there has been an ongoing debate about whether to be cautious or optimistic about this upward trend. Bettencourt says there is confidence in the market’s potential to maintain its current levels for another 12 to 18 months. This optimism is based on the demand and supply dynamics observed, especially when it comes to younger replacement cattle, which appear to be valued at a high level.

“There is a growing demand towards younger dairy heifers,” he shares. “So, there’s growth on the horizon.”

This growth matches the need to supply the $8 billion dollars in processing investments forecast to come online in the next few years. Bettencourt says as long as cull cows and beef-on-dairy calves stay at the level they are at, the dairy replacement market will continue to perform well.

“I know it’s hard to wrap your head around it for some people, but these replacements really aren’t that high in relation to everything else,” he says.

Choices and Strategies for Producers
For dairy producers, the decision between focusing on beef-on-dairy calves or concentrating on growing replacements remains complex. Both strategies aim to maximize profitability and maintain herd health. While feed costs have been relatively reasonable, milk prices are not at level that generate significant profit, thus pushing producers to rely on cattle sales to support their operations.

“We’ve talked to some producers who are starting to make a few more dairy heifers,” Bettencourt shares, noting the good corn crop on the horizon will help keep feed costs relatively inexpensive. “However, when you throw in these cull cow and beef-on-dairy checks, that is true income and adding profitability to dairies.”

Holstein Versus Jersey: A Demand Perspective
When it comes to breed preferences, Bettencourt says Holsteins seem to be in slightly higher demand compared to Jerseys.

“There is a higher value of a beef-on-dairy calf that comes out of a Holstein compared to a beef-on-dairy calf that comes out of a Jersey or a Jersey cross, and there seems to be more availability in Jerseys than Holsteins right now,” he shares. “Holsteins are in slightly higher demand right now.”

Bettencourt says this has been the case for a while now. He also says there still is plenty of interest in Jersey and Jersey cross cattle, stating Jersey fresh cows and springers range from $2,700 to $3,200 and Holsteins anywhere from $3,500 to $4,100.

“In fact, I would say, of the expansions that we’re aware of, and we’ve been talking to customers about filling some of those procurements of replacements, it feels like there’s more growth and there’s more expansion where folks are looking for Jerseys and/or crosses,” he says.

Enthusiasm Remains
While challenges remain for those involved in the dairy industry, there is an overarching sense of optimism especially on the income derived from cull cows and beef-on-dairy calves.

Bettencourt says Jersey beef-on-dairy calves are going from $750 to $900 for day-old calves and Holstein beef-on-dairy calves are going anywhere from $1,200 to $1,350. He says a sale that they worked with sold dairy-on-beef cattle that weighed 550 lb. that went as high as $4.31 per pound.

“I mean, it seems like every other week there’s a new record,” he says. “It’s certainly supplementing income for these dairy producers.”

Dan Basse, president of AgResource Company emphasizes the production of beef-on-dairy crossbreds is critical for maintaining the industry’s current output levels.

“It is something that needs to be in every herd,” he says.

As the dairy industry continues adapting to market demands, there is hope that current positive trends will benefit producers for the foreseeable future. This balance offers a promising outlook for growth and stability within the industry.

Your Next Read:
Enhancing Biosecurity on Calf Ranches: Balancing Animal and Human Health

Transform Efficiency: The Evolution of Full Circle Jerseys

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 13:54:08 GMT

In the heart of Dalhart, Texas, a remarkable agricultural shift is underway at Full Circle Jerseys, a farm known for its robust herd of 5,000 milking cows. The farm is strategically transitioning its herd from straight Jerseys to Holstein x Jersey crossbreds. This change is driven by the pursuit of increased energy-corrected milk yield, and according to its management team, an overall enhancement of operational efficiency.

“In a nutshell the ‘HoJo’, as we call them, are simply a more efficient animal,” says Brandon Beavers, the farm’s general manager. “Not necessarily in terms of overall production, but in converting feed into milk solids.”

Full Circle Jerseys epitomizes the gold standard of agricultural integration. Alongside their dairy operations, they manage a feed yard in Oklahoma that specializes in backgrounding beef-on-dairy calves and includes a heifer-raising operation.

(Wyatt Bechtel)

Beavers articulates the level of integration they’ve achieved: “The farm basically is now fully integrated,” he states.

By producing their own feed and using a methane-capturing digester installed two years ago, the farm enhances its sustainability efforts and operational efficacy.

Leverage Technology
A pivotal element in Full Circle’s efficiency narrative is their embrace of advanced technology. Activity monitoring collars, a key technological tool, facilitate the monitoring of cow behavior.

“As the cow exits the milking parlor, the collar informs us if she needs attention,” Beavers explains.

This information complements other systems, such as automatic sort gates and a management rail, and optimizes time management by allowing the farm to focus on individual cow needs without disrupting the entire herd.

Beavers shares they now are better at time management when it comes to the cows, as they used to lock up 100% of the cows to work on a few. Now they can focus on the individual cow needs and not disrupt the entire herd.

In all areas of their Texas operation, measurement and data underpin decision-making. Daily milk production is scrupulously recorded with cutting-edge technology slated to soon record an individual cow’s milk yield, fat and protein content. Beavers expresses enthusiasm about the forthcoming advancements, including laboratory-grade analysis for each stall. This data, which provides insights into energy, health and feed efficiency, supports strategic decisions such as therapeutic care driven by subclinical indicators and herd management decisions based on milk production.

Comprehensive Calf Care
Attention to detail extends to their thorough calf care protocols. Immediately after birth, calves undergo a meticulous process — being weighed, tagged and having navels dipped in iodine, followed by a warm water bath and blow-drying. The cows are milked in a specialized parlor where colostrum testing occurs using a brix test.

“Anything over 22 brix is considered No. 1 feeding colostrum,” Beavers shares.

He says there are several purposes to washing a calf after birth.

“First, it helps clean the calf by reducing bacterial load the calf comes in contact with during the birthing process. It also helps dry the calf, which allows the natural defense mechanism of the hair coat to insulate the calf. The maternal cleansing also stimulates blood flow in the calf’s body and invigorates the calf,” he says.

Beavers adds the process of washing calves with warm water, then blow drying, is their attempt to imitate the natural process of a cow licking her offspring soon after birth.

“It replicates the cleansing, drying and blood flow stimulation while we are providing care for the calf in a clean, warm and dry environment,” he says.

A Comparative Look
While the dairy sector at Full Circle benefits from real-time data and technology, their feed lot operations involve longer feedback periods.

“In the feed lots, when we make a feed change, it takes us 150 days or 180 days to obtain results to go off of,” Beavers says. “With the level of technology and data that we collect from the dairy, it’s a night and day difference.”

Full Circle Jerseys exemplifies how integration and technology can revolutionize modern farming, elevating efficiency, sustainability and productivity. By continually innovating, they set a benchmark for the future of dairy farming.

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The Two Worst Words a Farm Kid Can Say

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 14:18:10 GMT

Growing up on a farm is a unique experience that shapes vocabulary, attitude and lifestyle in countless ways. When you grow up on a farm, certain phrases become ingrained in your vocabulary, like “feed the calves” or “fix the fence” or “mow the grass,” but one phrase, in particular, is notably absent: “I’m bored.” In fact, these two little words should never escape the lips of a farm kid. On a farm, “boredom” is akin to a curse word, a concept almost as foreign as a cow that milks itself.

If, by some rare chance, a farm kid proclaims boredom, rest assured the farmer will always have a response, usually in the form of work. From fixing fences to milking cows, the endless list of tasks ensures there’s always something to occupy one’s time. Growing up, the idea of being bored was so unfathomable that even as a mere whisper, it would trigger an avalanche of chores.

I remember telling my mother, I was bored, could I go to the mall. My father overheard and said that rocks needed picked from the cattle corral.

In a world where other children would spend summer days at the mall or at a pool or watching television, farm kids are busy hauling manure, feeding calves, mowing grass, vaccinating cows, baling hay, getting their prize show animals ready for the fair and other tasks under the summer sun. During my own childhood, these activities kept me so occupied the notion of boredom seemed laughable.

The sheer sense of community and responsibility that arises from sharing in the farm work creates a mindset where leisure activities, such as trips to the movies or the mall, are rare and treasured luxuries.

Farm life might not be Instagram-worthy at times, but it certainly prepares children for the real world, as they learn resilience and a strong work ethic from an early age. If your own farm kids have ever echoed this curse word, how did you respond? Maybe you directed them toward the nearest trough that required cleaning or farm equipment to be washed.

Farm life is as much about character-building as it is about growing crops or raising livestock. It teaches adaptability and instills a sense of fulfillment born from hard work. The next time “I’m bored” is uttered, take it as an invitation to instill these valuable lessons, ensuring future generations uphold the traditions that make farm life so unique.

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The Growing Intersection of Dairy and Beef: How to Navigate Market Dynamics and Opportunities

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:39:10 GMT

Dairy producers across the United States are increasingly turning their attention not just to milk markets, but also to the burgeoning opportunities within the beef market. In recent years, beef-on-dairy has emerged as a significant alternative profit source for many dairies nationwide.

Dan Basse, president of AgResource Company, emphasizes the production of beef-on-dairy crossbreds is critical for maintaining the industry’s current output levels.

“It is something that needs to be in every herd,” he says.

The integration of bottom-end genetics from dairy herds to produce beef appears to be an essential strategy moving forward. And as the average age of cow-calf producers climbs into the upper 60s, Basse predicts beef-on-dairy will remain in demand for years to come. He believes this approach will help sustain beef production and supply, despite challenges faced by traditional beef producers.

Olivia Willrett, market analyst at Five Rivers Cattle Feedlot, recently shared market dynamics from the feedlot perspective during the Global Dairy Conference in Chicago, Ill.

The Cyclical Nature of Cattle Inventory
As Willrett points out, the U.S. cattle inventory reflects a long cycle defined by expansion and contraction phases. Starting with a liquidation phase often triggered by drought, it’s characterized by the reduction of cow inventory.

“That is the other factor we need to consider when we look at the total U.S. cattle inventory — the long-term trend downward,” Willrett shares, noting how despite a contraction and expansion phase, levels never quite expand back to where they were at.

“Generally, when we contract, if we liquidate that cow herd again, we do it into a new low,” she says.

Since 2019, the U.S. has observed a significant contraction with approximately 8 million fewer cattle — marking the lowest herd size in roughly 70 years.

Beef Production Efficiency and Consumer Demand
Willrett says the divergence between cattle inventory and beef production has increased. Despite a reduction in cattle numbers, the industry has managed to produce approximately 10% more beef using 34% fewer cattle than in 1975. This remarkable feat arose from advancements in breeding strategies, genetic improvements, feedlot management and packing techniques. Beef production kept pace with — and even outpaced — domestic consumer demand thanks to these efficiency gains. U.S. consumers have consistently shown an appetite for beef, propelling a steady increase in beef production quality, with current year ratings showing a rise from 65% to approximately 85% in choice and prime ratings.

“This captures more value and more product per head on that animal, to the tune of about 287 lb. — almost a 50% increase over the last 50 years. Why we’ve done all this is because of the consumer,” Willrett says. “The consumer didn’t necessarily hear that we’ve got fewer animals to work with each term of the cycle. They decided they wanted to continue eating beef, and we as producers found ways to deliver that product to them.”

Price Trends and Feedlot Dynamics
Beef pricing has exhibited progressive increases, accentuated by peaks even higher than those witnessed during the 2014 cycle. Currently, on an inflation-adjusted basis, prices mirror those of 2014 — despite leaner cattle numbers. Consumers’ continued strong demand contributes to sustained price levels, with U.S. beef demand remaining resilient.
The growing role of dairy within beef production aligns with consumer willingness to accept current retail beef prices.

“Today, the U.S. consumer is willing to expect retail beef prices at $8.70 per pound and calf and feeder cattle prices that are soaring,” Basse says.

Feedlot operations, meanwhile, have adapted by feeding dairy-influenced cattle longer —contributing to higher feedlot occupancy rates but slower turnover.

Willert says over the last 15 years, we’ve grown our choice and prime rating about 20 points, from 65% to about 85% so far this year.

“We’ve used our genetics, feeding and operational strategies to figure out how to maximize the quality of these animals, while also doing so in an efficient manner,” she says.

The Growing Intersection of Dairy and Beef
As many in the dairy industry are aware, there has been a significant rise in the beef-on-dairy crossover in recent years. This trend has prompted dairy professionals to ponder, “When is high too high?” As the market continues to evolve, questions about supply levels and pricing trends have become increasingly pertinent.

Willert emphasizes the importance of understanding the U.S. cattle feed inventory, which is a valuable dataset published monthly by USDA. This report surveys feedyards across the United States with a capacity greater than 1,000 head, providing vital insights into inventory levels and movement in and out of these facilities.

As we look at the data for 2025, it’s clear fewer cattle are available — which is a direct result of tighter cow and calf supplies. For those maintaining a close watch on the numbers, the June report indicated a further decrease of 1.1% to 1.2% from the previous year. Despite this downward trend, current supply levels remain well above those recorded between 2015 and 2017.

“We’re obviously seeing supplies at surface value higher than a year ago,” Willert says. “But we’ve also achieved those high prices not necessarily because the cattle are in the future, but because we’ve synthetically reduced the supply of market-ready cattle.”

Factors influencing this reduction include a strategic increase in the number of days feeder cattle spend in feedyards, allowing them to grow larger and more efficiently. As Willert points out, this shift helps maximize economic returns by optimizing the growth cycle.

Trade and Consumption Trends
The intricacies of the beef market extend beyond production metrics. Import strategies have become increasingly vital, especially as non-fed slaughter levels have hit lows. Lean imports help balance the demand for blended trim products crucial for popular ground beef varieties. On the export front, while recent declines have been observed due to geopolitical factors like the Chinese market’s volatility, the overall long-term trend remains positive, with exports contributing substantially to cattle value. Domestically, beef consumption continues to grow, bolstered by lifestyle shifts toward higher protein diets, supported by cultural changes spurred by global events like the COVID-19 pandemic.

By leveraging quantitative data and strategic insights, dairy industry stakeholders can better navigate pricing pressures and supply challenges — leading to more informed decision-making in this dynamic market landscape. As the pursuit of excellence in beef production continues, the collaboration between the dairy and beef sectors provides new opportunities for growth and sustainability.

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Emergency Farm Tips You Never Knew, From a Level One Trauma Nurse

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 14:37:53 GMT

Living and working on a farm brings a unique blend of beauty and danger. As both an ER nurse and a dairy farmer’s wife, Katie Hammock has witnessed the stark realities of what can happen when farm accidents occur. The tight-knit agricultural community feels every tragedy deeply, and with the right tools and training, some of these outcomes could be different, she says. This realization led her to a mission to educate, equip and empower farm families and agriculture businesses to prioritize safety and be ready before disaster strikes.

A Blend of Nursing and Farming
Hammock didn’t grow up on a farm. Instead, she was raised in the suburbs of Ottawa, Canada, with family ties to dairy farming in Pennsylvania and New York, which sparked her passion for agriculture. Eventually, she found herself in Southern Virginia for college, where she met her husband, a third-generation dairy farmer. Today, her husband and his family milk 900 cows and farm 1,000 acres while she continues to work as an ER nurse in one of Virginia’s Level 1 trauma centers. This unique combination of experiences fuels her drive to advocate for farm safety.

“I’ve spent my career as an ER nurse, treating the worst of the worst — life-threatening injuries, trauma cases and far too many farm accidents,” she says. “After seeing too many preventable tragedies and realizing there wasn’t a farm emergency kit that met our needs, I decided to do something about it. I created my own. And from there, my mission grew — to educate, equip and empower farm families and agriculture businesses to be ready before disaster strikes.”

Building the Ultimate Farm First Aid Kit
Farm accidents are often sudden and severe, and emergency response times in rural areas can be delayed. One lifesaving tool Hammock advocates for is the tourniquet, which can stop critical bleeding in case of severe injuries. It’s inexpensive, easily applicable, and can be critical in the precious minutes before professional help arrives. Having tourniquets and other emergency medical supplies readily available can mean the difference between life and death.

“If it’s a serious enough accident, it can take fewer than five minutes to bleed out,” Hammock says, underscoring the importance of every farm having a first aid kit that incorporates essential items such as:
1. Tourniquet: Stops critical bleeding.
2. Quick Clot: Clots blood rapidly in areas where a tourniquet can’t be applied.
3. Coban: Maintains pressure on injuries. Similar to vet wrap.
4. Whistle: Helps call for help when phone service is unavailable.
5. CPR Mask: Facilitates safe CPR in case of medical emergencies.

Common Farm Injuries and the Need for Safety Protocols
Farm work involves many hazards that can lead to injuries, such as tractor rollovers, chainsaw accidents and animal-related injuries. While safety protocols and slowing down can prevent some accidents, awareness and preparation for when accidents occur are equally crucial. It’s essential not to become complacent with routine tasks and always maintain vigilance.

Encouraging a Preparedness Mindset
When Hammock speaks to farm communities, the feedback is overwhelmingly appreciative. Many people haven’t considered farm safety from the perspective of an ER nurse who sees the aftermath of these accidents. Emphasizing preparedness, having a farm emergency kit and maintaining open communication about farm safety rules are vital steps.

“The difference between an accident and a tragedy is truly milliseconds,” she says, acknowledging that injuries happen regardless of how careful someone is. “So being prepared for when those accidents happen is very important.”

Safety and Boundaries for Children on Farms
Children’s safety on farms is a particularly sensitive and crucial topic. Each family must establish non-negotiable rules to prevent tragedies. On Hammock’s farm, for instance, their 2-year-old son has strict boundaries regarding riding on open cab tractors and lawnmowers. Such rules are grounded in the firsthand knowledge of what can go wrong.

While prevention remains the best strategy, being prepared for accidents is vital. Hammock urges all farm families and workers to invest in the knowledge, tools and protocols necessary for farm safety. Understanding the possible injuries and having a response plan can ultimately save lives. For resources like a free farm address organizer, visit: thedairywife.com .

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7 Health Insurance Solutions for the Self-Employed

Fri, 30 May 2025 15:59:39 GMT

If there is anything that could derail your business literally overnight, it’s a serious injury or illness in your family.

That’s why health insurance is an absolutely critical risk management tool, even though the cost of the insurance itself can also strain your business. While it probably won’t cover every medical expense for your family, it can protect you from the catastrophic effects of a major health event.

The majority of farm families agree with that sentiment, according to a 2017 study by HIREDnAG. The survey of nearly 1,000 farm families in 10 rural states found more than 75% of the respondents viewed health insurance as an essential risk management tool.

At the same time, however, many farm families still roll the dice by going without health insurance. The most recent USDA data on the subject shows more than 10% of U.S. farm households do not have health insurance, which is slightly higher than the general public. But even more telling is the type of farms that forgo it the most: dairy farms. They made up more than 40% of all farm households without health insurance, which is more than double any other type of farming enterprise.

Options to Cover Your Family

For those who are insured, many farm families rely on off-farm employment to secure health insurance — about 56% according to the USDA data. But what options are available for the rest of the families or individuals who wish to purchase their own coverage? Penn State University Extension’s Maureen Ittig, family well-being educator, and Ginger Fenton, dairy educator, recently presented a webinar where they shared the following suggestions:

Health Insurance Marketplace. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 created the federal Health Insurance Marketplace. Americans who do not have access to employer-sponsored health insurance can secure coverage through the marketplace, which provides credits for factors like income and family size. A handy calculator to estimate credits and plan costs can be found here . All ACA-compliant plans must cover 10 categories of services that includes things like prescriptions, pediatric care and emergency room services. Open enrollment for ACA plans is usually in the fall, but special circumstances can allow for enrollment throughout the year.
Medicaid/CHIP plans. Lower-income families may qualify for Medicaid and/or Children’s Health Insurance Program plans. These plans vary by state. They typically are less costly to families and may provide additional services, like dental and vision coverage, compared to ACA plans.
Association-based plans. Farm organizations and cooperatives may offer group plans to farmer-members. These organizations also offer guidance to help farm families understand the “language” of health insurance and aid in decision making.
HSAs. Using a Health Savings Account (HSA) is a popular way for farmers to maximize their health insurance dollars. HSAs are actual bank accounts that families fund annually and can be used to cover qualified health expenses. Any dollars not used can remain in the account for expenses incurred later on and even invested into higher-yielding financial funds. To access an HSA, the insured must have a High Deductible Health Plan, which can be accessed via insurance brokers, association-based plans, or the Health Insurance Marketplace. HSAs offer the “triple-treat” tax advantages of pre-tax contributions, tax-free growth and no tax on qualified withdrawals.
Skinny and gap plans. Some states allow for skinny plans that have lower premiums, largely because they are not required to offer the ACA-required 10 categories of services, like allowing entry with pre-existing conditions or maternity coverage. They also may have lifetime payout limits. Gap plans offer short-term, emergency coverage in some states. After 180 days, the insured must enroll for new coverage. They also may have exclusions and lifetime limits.
Armed forces health insurance. According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, about 9% of U.S farmers are veterans. They and their families are usually eligible for TRICARE or Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health insurance programs.
Healthcare sharing ministries. Several faith-based group health coverage ministries are available that share healthcare costs among their members. This is not health insurance, but many users find they are able to negotiate rates with providers similar to discounts offered to insurance companies. Enrollment may require specific belief systems and lifestyle choices (no tobacco or illegal drug use, for example). Users pay monthly fees similar to health insurance premiums. When they incur an expense, they pay their bills up front and then submit them for reimbursement.

The Penn State experts advised looking not only at costs, but also at the services your family might need, such as maternity and mental health coverage.

“The array of options available hopefully will allow you to pick an option that works best for you, your budget and your values,” Fenton notes.

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Beef-on-Dairy: A Very Lucrative Proposition for Producers

Fri, 09 May 2025 13:46:43 GMT

The U.S. beef industry is experiencing a significant transformation, with dairy producers playing an increasingly crucial role in meeting the nation’s beef demand. This shift is driven by several factors, as explained by Dan Basse, president of AgResource Company on a recent episode of Professional Dairy Producers (PDP) “Dairy Signal.” According to Basse, beef-on-dairy crossbreds have become an indispensable part of the industry.

The U.S. beef cattle herd has reached its lowest numbers in 64 years, a trend unlikely to reverse in the near future. Persistent drought conditions and strong cattle prices have discouraged beef producers from retaining heifers, leading to tighter supply conditions. In response, the beef industry has turned to dairy farmers to produce crossbred animals, which serve as a vital supply line to meet growing beef demand.

Beef-on-Dairy Needs to be in Every Herd
Basse emphasizes the production of beef-on-dairy crossbreds is critical for maintaining the industry’s current output levels.

“It is something that needs to be in every herd,” he said.

The integration of bottom-end genetics from dairy herds to produce beef appears to be an essential strategy moving forward. Basse doesn’t foresee an end to this demand any time soon.

As the average age of cow-calf producers climbs into the upper 60s, Basse predicts beef-on-dairy will remain in demand for years to come. He believes this approach will help sustain beef production and supply, despite challenges faced by traditional beef producers.

“I don’t see a way how you consolidate or make that cow-calf operator to produce enough animals going forward,” he shares.

The market is attempting to incentivize dairy producers with substantial financial offers, with some wet calves generating $1,000 plus, indicating a stable market through at least 2028.

Phil Plourd, president of Ever.Ag Insights, concurs with the ongoing profitability of breeding beef-on-dairy

“It’s a classic ‘bird in hand versus two in the bush’ situation. In this case, the bird in hand is something like $900 for a day-old beef calf,” he says. “That still strikes producers as a better deal than the risks and uncertainties of raising a dairy heifer. The beef situation isn’t any different, either, with the Cattle Report showing the smallest beef inventories since 1961 and all-cattle and calf inventories since 1951. The whole situation is one of the more intriguing mysteries I’ve seen in the 25-plus years I’ve been hanging around the dairy industry.”

Consumer Trends and Market Outlook
The growing role of dairy in beef production aligns with consumer willingness to accept current retail beef prices. Currently, prices are soaring, with retail beef reaching $8.70 per pound. Despite these prices, demand remains robust, and calf and feeder cattle prices continue to rise. Basse notes the market is solid for the foreseeable future, with some uncertainty beyond 2028.

“Beyond that it is always mercury,” he says. “Today, the U.S. consumer is willing to expect retail beef prices at $8.70 per pound and calf and feeder cattle prices that are soaring.”

The beef-on-dairy approach is not just a temporary fix; it’s become a strategic component in the U.S. beef production landscape. As the industry adapts to changing conditions and consumer demand, dairy producers will continue to be key players in ensuring beef supplies remain steady.

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The Ultimate Gift: Dairy Farmer Becomes Lifesaving Hero by Donating Both His Liver and Kidney

Tue, 24 Dec 2024 14:58:22 GMT

When one thinks of a dairy farmer, the image often conjured is that of a hardworking individual, dedicated to the care of their cattle and land. Brian Forrest, who leads with a kind-hearted and giving spirit at his family farm, Maple Ridge Dairy near Stratford, Wisconsin, epitomizes this image and so much more.

Forrest works tirelessly alongside his wife, Elaine, and their five children, tending to roughly 2,000 cows and farming 4,000 acres. Although farming is undeniably a demanding job, Forrest thrives on the mixture of hard work and familial teamwork it entails.

Leadership Beyond Farming
Away from the hustle and bustle of farming, Forrest dedicates his time in boardrooms and volunteering on various committees and organizations. His contributions as a leader have not gone unnoticed as he was awarded the Dean Strauss Leadership Award at the Professional Dairy Producers (PDP) Annual Meeting earlier this year.

“Ask anyone who knows Brian and they’ll tell you he’d give you the shirt off his back without blinking, as his track record clearly shows,” Shelly Mayer, Executive Director of PDP, shares. “I’ve had the opportunity to work directly with Brian for several years and I can say firsthand that he is one of the most thoughtful, compassionate people one could ever hope to work with.”

Maple Ridge has earned recognition on state and national levels, including Focus on Energy’s 2022 Energy Efficiency Excellence Award and platinum-level recognition in 2020 from the National Mastitis Council for the dairy’s consistently low Somatic Cell Count. Forrest was also named a 2021 Wisconsin Agriculturist Master Agriculturist. Forrest serves as Board Chair of Dairy’s Foundation and also served on the PDP board of directors for six years, acting as treasurer for three years. He’s an FFA alumnus and regularly supports the FFA.

A Selfless Donor
Forrest’s generosity extends beyond his time and expertise. In July 2019, he served as a living liver donor for his cousin Richard Gillette, who was battling end-stage liver disease.

“Richard is one of five brothers who I had always looked up to when I was a kid,” Forrest fondly recalls. “When they were young, all five of them came up from Illinois during the summer to help out on my dad’s farm in Stratford.”

Two of the five brothers died in their 50s - and Forrest didn’t want to see a third Gillette brother die before his time. And, as sick as Richard was in the spring of 2019, he was unlikely to receive a new liver from a deceased donor in time to save his life. Too many patients were ahead of him on the transplant list - and most of them were even sicker. Forrest offered to see if he could be a match.

“I thought maybe I could be a donor. I’m older, but I have O-negative blood.” After discussing it with his wife and giving it careful thought, he decided to go through with the donation.

A football fan at heart, Forrest knows that when it’s game day, rivalries don’t matter. Or least this was the case for the fourth-generation dairy farmer.

“He’s a Bears fan. I’m a Packer fan. But we were united the morning that we both met with our incredible surgeons,” Forrest remembers back to the day of live transplant at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical Hospital. We joked together right before the surgery that after he gets part of my liver, he very well may come out a Packers fan! He beamingly shares that his cousin recovered well. “It was a tough road for a while, but it was all worthwhile.”

Four years later, Forrest donated a kidney to an anonymous recipient, demonstrating his willingness to help those in need yet again.

The kidney he donated went to a person in Virginia. The surgeon showed Forrest a picture of his kidney functioning perfectly inside the recipient the evening after his surgery.

“It was pink inside the recipient and doing its job,” Forrest shared emotionally. “It is all so remarkable.”

Both surgeries required others to pick up the ‘slack’ from Forrest back at the dairy. He proudly shares that he is lucky to have such a great village that could help out while he took 6-8 weeks to fully recover from both surgeries.

“I would do this again in a heartbeat,” he shares. “There is no price tag for giving someone life and the whole experience brought my family closer together.”

A Farmer’s Faith
Forrest says the feeling of helping someone else is hard to describe but incredibly fulfilling.

“I know God is driving the way,” he says. “I’m not sure what direction we are heading, but I know he is in the driver’s seat and I’m in the backseat.”

When it comes to farming, Forrest—like most farmers—believes in a better tomorrow. Before his surgeries, Forrest had to undergo a mental health evaluation, ensuring he was prepared for all eventualities, even the possibility of the surgery not resulting in success.

“I go back to the highs and lows of farming. With milk prices and Mother Nature, you must be okay with not being in control,” he says.

Forrest’s mindset of focusing on what can go right instead of what could go wrong is just his natural way of thinking. This positive attitude has helped foster a healthy and positive culture at Maple Ridge Dairy, where 34 full-time employees work in harmony.

“Our mission and values are communicated, and we all work towards the same goal,” he shares.

In an industry full of challenges and unpredictability, this Wisconsin dairy farmer stands out not just for his farming practices but for his exemplary character and unwavering optimism. Whether on the farm, in the operating room, or during acts of heroism, Forrest truly embodies a spirit of selflessness and resilience.

“I try to make more deposits than withdrawals,” he says. “There are good days and bad days, but we really need to focus on the good. My hopes are that others who hear my story also consider organ donation. UW Madison is an incredible resource and I’d be happy to talk to anyone whose heart has tugged on them regarding organ donation. I have no regrets.”

This Thanksgiving Be Grateful for The Strength of Our Mothers

Tue, 26 Nov 2024 00:55:14 GMT

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the figures who have profoundly shaped our lives. This year, I find myself thinking about a striking statement from the legendary Coach Mike Krzyzewski, former Duke University and USA Basketball coach. He once advised, “Be as tough as your mothers.” This powerful message resonates deeply, especially with those of us who grew up as farm kids, where our mothers proved to be the unsung heroes of our upbringing.

The Unwavering Spirit of Farm Mothers
Mothers, if they are anything like mine, have faced the demanding realities of farm life with unyielding strength. These are women who fed calves in the sweltering heat of summer, irrigated pastures with children on their hips, and resolved marital differences amidst sorting cows. They managed household finances creatively, making ends meet even when the milk check was sparse, and they ensured that a family of eight was nourished from garden and freezer bounty.

My mother, in particular, embodies this strength. The oldest daughter of a U.S. Admiral, she once lived a life of luxury, familiar with Italian leather gloves, silk blouses, and fur coats. Yet, she embraced a new calling when she married my father, a devoted Oregon dairy farmer, and exchanged her glamorous wardrobe for rubber boots and ragged jeans. Despite this dramatic transformation, she never complained.

My late mother, Michelle getting ready to attend a formal event.

(Karen Bohnert)

Homemaker and More
After coming home from school to head to the barn to do farm chores, my sisters and I would race inside to a home-cooked meal prepared from scratch. Growing up with servants in a high-class setting, my mother learned to cook only after marrying my father, who humorously recalled losing 30 pounds in their first year of marriage. Yet she would remind him that he was doing ‘just fine now.’

Even when burdened by physical exhaustion or illness, my mom remained unwavering. She still managed to assist us with homework, ensuring that we not only comprehended the assignment but excelled at it, even if it meant staying up past midnight to solve complex algebra problems. She did this while nursing a sick newborn calf in the mudroom and baking pies for a 4-H banquet, lending yet another testament to a mother’s multitasking ability. Her ingenuity was a product of from being self-taught, reading the Merck Manual, learning from our veterinarian and her years of working in a hospital. Mom seemed to be able to do anything and everything.

My late mother feeding a flock of sheep in her Italian leather gloves and fur coat.

(Karen Bohnert)

Resilience in Adversity
My mother’s resilience manifested most profoundly when our family faced life’s harshest trials. When a house fire rendered us homeless overnight, she chose gratitude for the neighbors who welcomed us in. When one of her daughters nearly lost her leg in a farming accident, mom didn’t let her praying legs grow lazy, as she was grateful for medical advancements and her daughter’s recovery.

Values of Perseverance and Positivity
Among her most enduring gifts were the values she imparted—values characterized by a strong work ethic, kindness, gratitude and perspective. My mom never permitted self-pity to take root, a trait she exemplified in her own life. She instilled in us a perspective that transformed adversity into opportunity.

My three kids.

(Bohnert Farms)

Reflecting on the qualities I hope to impart to my own children, I wholeheartedly echo Coach K’s sentiment. I hope for my children to grow into individuals possessing the resilience and strength of their late grandmother. Her enduring legacy is one of tenacity, compassion and unwavering positivity—traits that are as essential on the farm as they are in life. This Thanksgiving, as you gather around the table, think of those that fill your heart with love, including your mother.

How Feeding Calves Helped This 33 Year Old Farm Mom Recover From a Devastating Brain Tumor

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 16:53:48 GMT

If you’re trying to imagine a California dairy farm family, the Ron and Sherri Prins family could easily paint that picture for you. Holsteins and Jerseys, a handful of employees, four children, one spouse that grew up on the farm and one that married into it.

Fifteen years into growing a farm and a family together in the Central Valley of California, everything changed for Ron, Sherri and their family. Sherri was 33, and the kids were six, eight, 10 and 12. Sherri had been dealing with migraines, and she recalls the evening in May of 2000, when Ron took her to the emergency room.

“Soon after our emergency room visit, we had a diagnosis of a brain tumor,” she says. “Life changed for all of us. We knew God had a plan for our lives and would take care of us, but we still had so many things that lay ahead of us.”

Doctor visits, MRIs, phone calls and trips to a major city were only part of what was to come. The kids were all involved in school, church and sports activities, and there were 600 cows to be milked.

“We have an amazing family and church family that helped us with our children, meals and driving, and so many others that offered their help on the dairy farm,” Sherri says. “Ron’s dad took some of the workload, as well as other members of our work force.”

Sherri had brain surgery on her 34th birthday, October 3, 2000. The surgery was successful, and coming home after a week, Ron was juggling a lot. “I don’t know if I could have done it all on my own. We were so fortunate to have most of our family close by, and a lot of friends who helped out,” Ron says.

The surgery was just the beginning of a long road to recovery for Sherri and continued adjusting for the rest of the family. Sherri remembers how the kids each handled the whole thing in different ways, and was grateful that their pastor was there to help them process things.

“There was a lot of juggling schedules with everything the kids were involved in,” Ron says. “And their roles increased on the farm as they got older. There was always something for them to do after school and on weekends if they weren’t busy with something else.”

But it ended up being a specific role on the farm that made a world of difference in Sherri’s recovery. The tumor had been in the frontal lobe of the brain, which is responsible for short term memory. Ron pieced together the need for Sherri to exercise that part of her brain with an important, daily, repetitive task on the farm: feeding calves.

One year after her surgery, Sherri stepped into that role, with the kids helping after school and on the weekends. “It became a type of occupational therapy,” she says. “Working on remembering cow and calf numbers and working through calf issues translated into redeveloping the ability to manage a schedule for a family. Working back into being able to multitask was a long process, but I was pushed along by the calf feeding routine. Along the way, I learned how much I loved calf care and how important it was to helping me recover.”

Another 20 years later, Sherri is now retired from calf feeding and has redeveloped her short-term memory to the point that her farm job is to manage the bookwork. Throughout the whole process, Ron and Sherri made a point to put their trust in God’s guidance and will never take for granted the type of perspective their kids gained at such young ages.

“Life in general is full of things that are out of our control,” Sherri says. “We learned at another level that our lives as farmers, parents are all in the hands of God. We had to trust God for what was ahead, and that wasn’t always easy, but we felt his protection and direction all through the process. Our children also saw and experienced the hard things and gained a great life perspective of what is really important.”

While the hard times have the potential to cast a cloud on the family’s story, Ron and Sherri are quick to point out the good times and the blessings they’ve experienced since Sherri’s diagnosis.

“We have been able to grow our dairy (now 1,100 cows), and add acres to the farm. Which is great, but it’s also added more work for everyone. We doubled our employees, cows, bookwork and everything,” Sherri says.

Ron adds, “I think it taught us that when life throws tough times at you, you learn to push through and work it out, and in the end it always seems to work out. Like any business, it takes a team effort to be successful, and we had that.”

Sherri describes it as chaotic and wonderful at the same time. “When 20 years ago we didn’t know what the future held for us, we can look at where we are now and know that God allowed us to have so much more than we could have ever imagined.”

For more human interest stories, read:

Long Road: Kansas Family Rebuilds and Revives Dairy After 2019 Tornado Wiped Out Family Farm

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 21:37:02 GMT

It’s a day Rob and Lisa Leach will never forget.

“May 28th, 6:43pm,” says Rob, remembering the day their lives took a dramatic turn. “That’s when it hit us.”

May 28, 2019 is the day the Leach’s entire farm was wiped out by an EF4 tornado .

“It was noisy, but it was just like nonstop wind,” Rob told Farm Journal just days after the tornado hit in 2019. “It was just the most incredible wind you ever can imagine.”

The Aftermath

The twister that hit their Linwood, Kan. farm was a monster at a mile wide, carrying 170 mile per hour winds.

“We’ve got a lot outbuildings, we have our shop, freestall barn, calf barn holding pins, grain bins, garages, silos: it’s all gone,” Rob said in May 2019.

Two days after the tornado ripped through their farm, Farm Journal’s video crew was on the scene and captured the aftermath. Metal in trees, the milking parlor and barns flattened. The structures were gone, but what was even more painful was the fact the Leach family lost part of their herd.

“When we came up the hill, out of our basement, we expected the worst , and we immediately found what we had cattle meeting us, we had cattle in our yard, cattle walking all over the place and also dead cows,” said Rob.

The winds were so powerful, some cows were carried more than half a mile away.

“The one that was the farthest away, we didn’t find for 24 hours, and she was the most valuable cow on the farm,” said Rob. “She was down in a ditch and couldn’t get up.”

Will We Ever Dairy Again?

Taylor Leach, Rob and Lisa’s daughter who is also part of the Farm Journal family, reflected on the tornado recently. But when we talked to her just days after the tornado hit, she was still in disbelief.

“Trash everywhere, nails everywhere, wires everywhere,” she told us. “If we ever have cattle here again, I don’t even know how we’re going to be able to clean up all of the wire and nails out in the pasture,” said Taylor.

The raw reaction was fresh, as the Leach family had scrambled to immediately get the surviving cows to help.

“We could only get 20 out of here the first night,” says Rob, who says roads were blocked by down trees. “Those are the ones that were hurt the worst.”

The next morning, Rob says what was left of their 125 head herd, were also hauled out. Volunteers, some who had never touched a cow, helped lead the cows, halter free, to the road.

“We have so many friends,” says Lisa. “I mean, they’re very good friends, that took them to roughly 14,15 farms at one time.”

As ones with minor injuries went to farms, the animals were scattered throughout the area and sent to anyone who had space. The furthest location was a farm in Colorado. The cows wounded the most, were rescued and taken in by a local farm.

“Vets that worked all night long on cows that were cut up,” says Rob.

“And they never charged us,” remembers Lisa.

“No, we never got any bills for any medical work. And they said, ‘well, we’ll just have to charge you for drugs.’ And then some drug company donated drugs, so we didn’t have to pay for that. So, we were very fortunate,” adds Rob.

We Will Rebuild

From a tattered farm two years ago, with pieces scattered for miles, the scene looks much different today.

“We’ve brought home about 60 cows or so,” says Lisa.

“So, we’ve got at least that many still farmed out,” adds Rob.

As rebuilding is still taking place in Linwood, major headway has also happened thanks to countless volunteers.

“There were literally hundreds of people, volunteers, that came,” says Lisa. “I would say we averaged 100 people a day for over three weeks.”

An army of volunteers who came, many without even being asked, all who helped pick up the pieces left by the 2019 tornado.

“We had several massive cleanups that summer that we cleared as much debris out of the fields as we could,” says Lisa.

“I think we walked about 200 to 300 acres, just shoulder to shoulder, walking in the fields and picking up debris,” Rob says.

It’s those efforts that slowly cleaned up shredded structures and debris once scattered across their farm. But it wasn’t something that happened quickly. Every nail. Every piece of metal. All of it had to be picked up.

“We sold 350,000 pounds of scrap metal in this in the summer of 2020,” says Rob.

They say the effort to mend the damage and pick up all the pieces not lasted for more than a year.

“We drained seven ponds, because they were just completely filled with steel, barn, tin, lumber,” says Rob.

But from the rubble, rose new life and a new look for the Leach family.

“We started with a commodity barn. It was kind of the catch all,” says Rob.

One structure replaced at a time, with foundation poured for the next, in an effort to replace 11 barns battered by the storm.

“COVID-19 didn’t help our cause at all,” explains Rob. “After COVID-19, it was kind of a strange phenomenon. People were building stuff all over the place, the price of materials went through the roof and you couldn’t get a crew to do anything.”

Much of this work was done with their own hands, with three new blue barns planted on the same dirt their old barns were on.

The Effort to Milk Again

The final barn was built on December 21, 2020, and one that Rob, along with 17 friends and family, constructed themselves. It marked the final piece in a two-year orchestrated effort to finally start milking again.

“We’ve been approved by the co-op to start milking again,” says Lisa. “We’ve got a trucker lined up that’s going to haul the milk for us. And we we’ve got six cows that we’re milking right now.”

All the work, the hours, the constant efforts to rebuild; it was all to accomplish one thing: be able to milk again. And that day finally came for Lisa in June, a moment she captured on camera as the first milk truck drove away.

A New Era

As the milk truck left, it signaled a new era for the Leach family. Rob and Lisa now travel the same path from the house to the barn they took before the tornado hit, to milk the cows today.

“This is our passion,” says Rob. “This is what we do for fun. This is all we’ve ever done for fun. We like to show cows, that’s kind of our thing.”

“I wasn’t ready to quit,” says Lisa.

As Lisa says calling it quits never crossed their minds, she also didn’t want to give up on our cows.

“Honestly, we had some of the best cows we had ever had,” says Rob.

“We had some really good cows, and that’s probably the only reason we came back,” adds Lisa.

And a comeback it was. The same year the tornado hit, the Leach’s youngest daughter, Sophie, took home Grand Champion at the Kansas State Fair with their Holstein named Lin-Crest Bradnick Tess, a cow that still bared the scar after surviving the tornado that left a gash in her neck just months before.

The family also won the “Jersey Jug” at Louisville with their Jersey Juju, another survivor, and one shown by the woman who rescued Juju and 20 other cows the night the tornado hit.

“We’ve had some good days in the show ring since the tornado,” says Rob.

“Some phenomenal days,” says Lisa.

“So, we were very lucky,” adds Rob.

Stronger than the Storm

As the Leach family cherishes what they’ve accomplished in two short years, they say their family farm was restored for their three girls.

“I mean, they love it, too,” says Rob. “We’re doing it for them. This is their passion.”

And as a family, they continue to defeat any doubts, while beating the odds.

“I think the only doubt was, whether or not we could milk again,” says Lisa.

“We just weren’t sure, you know, if we were going to be able to rebuild,” says Rob.

“Every now and then, you really need to go back and look at the pictures just to remind yourself how far you’ve come,” adds Lisa. “And how many people have helped you get there.”

A lifetime of passion, with the people who knew it wasn’t Rob and Lisa’s time to call it quits.

“Getting all these buildings built back, when it took us a lifetime to build what we had,” says Rob. “So to get back here within two years, is amazing.”

As even two years later, the leaches continue to prove they’re truly stronger than the storm.

Farmers and ranchers continue to show grit with grace while battling various challenges farm and ranch families face. Read more “Grit with Grace” stories here .

It’s Okay to Celebrate Your Wins

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:40:56 GMT

When my kids were younger and they’d come off the bus, my first question would always be, “Tell me three positives about your day.” Their responses varied from “We had pizza for lunch,” to “I got to sit by so-and-so on the bus” to “We got to watch a movie in class.” I wasn’t concerned about the specifics of these wins; my goal was to train their minds to see the good in every day. If I had asked them what went wrong, they’d probably have overwhelmed me with an endless list of grievances.

The same principle applies to adults, especially those in high-stress professions like farming. It’s so easy to focus on the negatives: a busted gate, a forgotten task, or poor time management. The list seems endless. However, when we ask ourselves what went right, it becomes challenging to pinpoint those positive moments unless we make a conscious effort to celebrate them.

Finding Joy in the Everyday
I’m not just talking about significant, life-changing wins either; those are easier to acknowledge. Yet, in farming and many other fields, those big wins don’t happen every day, every week, or even every month. It’s crucial to make a big deal out of every win, no matter the size. Throw a pizza party, provide tokens of appreciation, like gift cards, or simply brag a bit. These celebrations help remind us why we do what we do, especially when it feels like everything is going against us.

Recently, at our farm we experienced a significant win when we started chopping corn. Our insurance appraiser came to assess the crop, and while we suspected it was good, we were blown away when he announced our average—275 bushels per acre. I cried right then and there because it was a monumental win for us.

I follow up by sharing, we’ve had tough years where river-bottom corn was flooded out and we had to rely on insurance money. Some years, rain didn’t come, and yields barely reached half of what we got this year. Many years fell somewhere in between.

The Importance of Celebration
So, we celebrated this extraordinary crop under the hot sun with cold beverages and laughter as we reminisced about the past. We recalled the times when the kids were learning how to drive tractors and listened to the old-timers’ stories, which were probably more fiction than fact, but still enjoyable, nonetheless. We stayed up late and simply enjoyed each other’s company.

It sounds simple, but often we are conditioned to focus on what went wrong rather than what went right.

Changing the Perspective
The week after our celebration, I started asking my husband about his wins every day. Though he chuckled, knowing what I was trying to do, he joined in. Once you train your mind to see the good, it’s like switching from black and white to technicolor. Suddenly, you find yourself smiling more while feeding calves as you see your future standing right in front of you. A successful herd health check becomes a reason to tell all your employees. Moving cows from the barn to the parlor and spotting an excellent 2-year-old cow becomes a photo opportunity to share with the crew. The lights come on for all the right reasons, and you start building a positive culture that makes owning and working on your farm incredibly fulfilling.

So, I highly suggest giving it a try—start celebrating your wins, big or small. What have been some of your wins this year?

How to Create a Work-Life Balance When Your Work is Not 8-5

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 20:55:27 GMT

Work-life balance is something we all strive for. Although some people might say that you give that notion up if you are self-employed or a business owner. Yes, I get it. As a business owner, running a farm is nonstop and it is difficult to draw a dividing line that separates work life and personal life. Our lives are simply not a five-day, 8-5 job.

I do think it is important to ask one question that might grant you some work-life balance. “Can this wait until tomorrow?”

Often, as business owners, we are the ones that go above and beyond. We are the first ones to clock in and the last ones to clock out. Even when you come inside, work doesn’t stop. Calls come in; bookwork needs to be done. Where is that dividing line? While it is hard to establish, I encourage you all to find a way to push pause and to call it quits, even if it’s to attend your son’s middle school football game. I guarantee nobody will have regrets and that 12-year-old’s smile will remind you of the importance of finding balance.

Lead by Example

Liz Griffith with Encore Consulting says producers should create their own work-life balance that employees can resonate with.

“Provide an open-door policy, allowing employees to communicate with you openly,” she says. “It is remarkable how many issues can be worked out if your staff feels free to have open discussions.”

Examples include:

Allow limited carry-over of PTO. As employers, we want our workers to take time off to rest and enjoy themselves with family or friends.
Offer flexible hours. The workday is no longer one-size-fits-all. Your employees want to attend their kid’s soccer games occasionally.
Provide creative incentives. Family movie passes along with a Friday night off.
Provide the benefits they want and need. Not everyone needs health insurance, or many won’t take it. Consider alternatives such as gift cards for gas and oil changes or a beef steer/pay for processing, accounting or tax services.
Provide wellness initiatives. Free or partial membership to a health club or develop a wellness challenge like weight loss.
Organize team-building activities. Soccer, volleyball or softball teams.
Host a “bring your family to the farm day.” This event allows employees to show their families where they work and what they do. In addition, on-farm days can be a great educational experience for family members.

“In a world where job opportunities are endless, take the necessary steps to develop areas of work-life balance within your teams,” Griffith says. “Then, not only will you retain your current employees, but your business will have a reputation for encouraging a solid work-life balance, making you more attractive to future new hires.”

BREAKING: Second U.S. Dairy Worker Infected with Bird Flu Confirmed in Michigan

Thu, 23 May 2024 03:18:26 GMT

A second human case of bird flu has been confirmed in the United States since the virus was first confirmed in dairy cattle in late March, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

The infection of a dairy worker in Michigan expands the outbreak of the H5N1 virus, though the CDC said the risk to the general public remains low.

A Texas dairy worker was confirmed to be infected in April. Michigan and Texas are among nine states to report bird flu in dairy herds.

Similar to the Texas case, the patient in Michigan only reported eye symptoms, the CDC said. The Michigan worker had mild symptoms and recovered, according to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.

The worker had regular exposure to livestock infected with bird flu, Michigan said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it believes unpasteurized milk is the primary vector for transmitting the virus among cows, though officials do not know exactly how it spreads. (Reporting by Tom Polansek, Julie Steenhuysen and Jasper Ward; Editing by Eric Beech and Franklin Paul and Anna Driver)

Beef-on-Dairy Impacts the Overall Dairy Heifer Discussion

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 20:08:11 GMT

While spring has arrived, higher milk prices have not. The immediate concerns on most producers across the U.S. is just how long low milk prices will continue.

Independent dairy financial advisor, Gary Sipiorski, says producers are trying to find ways to lower expenses without impacting herd health or milk production. He shares that producers need to revisit their heifer inventory and calculate just how many heifers they will need in the coming year.

“They cost $2,200 to raise or more,” Sipiorski says. “Beeding for beef right now is paying up. Some producers are even thinking of selling all their heifers. That is a serious decision.”

The high prices of beef are boosting dairy producers bottom line, as week-old beef crosses are going for a pretty penny. Sipiorski says producers are now trying to decide how long they should keep a cow.

“Three, four, five lactations,” he says. “These cows are paid to produce a lot of milk, however, they are still worth a lot of money as beef. And, you cannot afford to have any of them to die on the farm.”

At the Dairy Calf & Heifer Association Annual Meeting in Westminster, Colo., Dr. Geoff Smith, dairy technical services veterinarian with Zoetis, says that beef on dairy has been a blessing and a curse to dairy producers.

“It has been a blessing for many reasons, the biggest one being the extra income it has brought to dairies,” he says. “Many farms have fallen so in love with producing beef-on-dairy that they don’t have the number of replacement heifers needed. And they’re not able to make proper culling decisions because they don’t have the numbers of replacements in the pipeline.”

Although, according to Jim Salfer with University of Minnesota, producers do not seem to have an appetite for increasing the number of heifer calves that they are raising.

“A lot of it is because of the cash flow situation on farms and the extreme value of these crossbred calves,” he says. “Most of the farms that I work with have no appetite for even raising a few extra heifers.”

Salfer points out that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) will be crucial to watch to see if that results in additional culling.

“One other potential fly in the ointment is if states start restricting movement because of the HPAI breakout,” he says. “It seems like mortality levels are low, so that may not be likely.”

Low milk prices force producers to calculate how to generate extra profit and many have found through beef-on-dairy and cull cows checks. The key for producers going forward will be maintaining the right number of lactating cows going through the parlor and ensuring the right number of replacement heifers can keep that pipeline full. This is an on-going conversation that will continue to unfold as long as the beef market stays hot.

Check Out These Beef-on-Dairy Stories:

Georgia Dairy Farmer Teaches NBA Superstars, Including Charles Barkley, How to Milk a Cow by Hand

Tue, 27 Feb 2024 19:46:37 GMT

NBA superstar Charles Barkley told one of his producers that he couldn’t remember the last time he had a glass of milk. The producers smiled and came up with the idea to not only have Barkley, but also his TNT show co-stars, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, who are also NBA superstar legends, to learn how to hand milk a cow.

The basketball trio were introduced to a Madison, Ga., dairy cow, as Katelin Benkoski from Big Sandy Creek Dairy Farm was tagged by several friends on Facebook for the need for animal actors. More specifically, what they were looking for was a dairy cow in milk that could walk up a ramp and that could handle bright lights and cameras for the TNT show.

The Benkoski family knew just the cow they could use from the farm’s 80-cow herd that would perform well in that kind of spotlight. Rosie, a five-year-old Red and White Holstein cow, who weighs approximately 1,300 pounds, strutted down the ramp into the TNT studio.

“Oh, so she weighs a little less than Shaq,” teased Charles Barkley upon meeting Rosie, who has been shown at several fairs and is often used with milking demonstrations on the farm’s agritourism business.

“I got the call on Monday, and they asked if we could be in Atlanta on Thursday,” Katelin says.

The Benkoski family – John and Julie, along with their three daughters, Katelin, Alissa and Leah – lean into any opportunity that they can to educate people and have good positive feedback for dairy farmers. Although this opportunity was a big hit with the family, Julie was starstruck and John joked that no way the NBA stars grow to be as tall as they were without the help of milk’s nine essential vitamins.

(Farm Journal)

The NBA trio was definitely surprised and visibly nervous to milk Rosie. Only Charles Barkley was willing to pull up a stool and hand milk a cow, but all three stars were interested in the process.

Katelin says Rosie was the true star and has felt like a diva back on the family’s farm since her TV appearance.

“She definitely thinks she is queen of the herd now,” she says.

Big Sandy Creek Dairy Farm

Big Sandy Creek Dairy Farm was established in 1947 when the girl’s grandparents came down from Connecticut to Georgia. The farm is located about an hour south of Atlanta. The family currently milks 80 Holstein cows and runs a well-established agritourism entity that provides school tours, summer camps and more.

(Farm Journal)

Katelin shares that her mother is a schoolteacher and her father used to be a school bus driver for the local school and the family incorporated their love for education to engage more with their community to tell their dairy’s good story.

(Farm Journal)

“My parents began noticing a disconnect in consumers and agricultural education with a lot of people not knowing where their food comes from,” she said.

The farm’s agritourism business has been going on for nearly two decades, although it paused after Hurricane Katrina, as people did not have the funds to do field trips. They opened their doors again seven years ago and have been part of the Adopt a Cow program for three years.

To watch the TNT segment featuring Big Sandy Creek Farm, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gt_l0b17JQ .

In Their Own Words: Animal Activists Speak Out at 2023 Conferences

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 19:00:36 GMT

The Animal Agriculture Alliance works diligently to safeguard the future of animal agriculture and its value to society by monitoring the activity of animal rights extremists. Several of these extremist groups convened this past year for their annual conferences, discussing new tactics and strategies they plan to use against animal agriculture to rally around their missions of “total animal liberation.” While animal rights supporters make up an incredibly small percentage of our population, they are loud and aggressive and can mislead consumers about the animal agriculture community’s commitment to animal welfare, sustainability and other key topics.

So far this year, three conferences have been hosted – Direct Action Everywhere’s (DXE) Animal Liberation Conference (ALC), Humane Society of the United States’ (HSUS) Taking Action for Animals (TAFA) conference, and the Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit. Key topics at these events included sustainability, public health, legislation and animal welfare. It can be hard to hear comments coming from those opposed to animal agriculture, but it is important to monitor their activity and stay vigilant in whatever tactics may be coming next.

The 2023 DXE ALC was held in Berkeley, Calif., on June 9-14 and largely focused on DXE’s “Right to Rescue” campaign and recent thefts of animals from farms, however other sessions focused on strategy, specifically how to build a pressure campaign and how to align with fellow extremists. Here are a few quotes shared by speakers:

• “When we acknowledge that animals are individuals who deserve compassion, justice, and rescue, we inherently negate the idea that they are just objects to be bought and used, sold, and killed. These two perspectives, property and persons are intentioned with each other and with this campaign, we can bring this tension to the surface.”

• “Rescue is our moral duty to stand in solidarity with those who are oppressed.”

• “We are turning the criminal justice system on its head.”

• “Press can get charges dropped for activists and give you insider information.”

• “Taking your target, whether that is a company or an industry or a sector, figuring out what the Achilles heels are of those sectors of those industries, of those corporations, and putting pressure on those weight points to shift them to get them to do what you want or get them to just stop doing whatever they are doing.”

• “Goals might be something like stopping a slaughterhouse from being built, getting a company to drop fur, getting an animal relocated to a sanctuary from a zoo, and the corresponding visions to these goals are a world without slaughterhouses, a world where animals are not exploited for fur, and a world where zoos have been shut down.”

• “We most abolish animal ag to prevent the next pandemic.”

The Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit took place in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 27-30. This event was launched by ProVeg International and was billed as an opportunity to “explore and learn the latest knowledge, diversity of thought, and tools to effectively increase your individual and collective impact on systemic food system change.” The following key messages were shared by speakers:

• “One of the key strengths is mass protests because they can really create the conditions for transformation across the whole ecology, and really push the issue out into the public spotlight.”

• “There are also scientists that are using AI to decode animal language so that one day maybe they can advocate for themselves.”

• “We want to find any evidence that leads to more opposition to animal farming as a whole.”

• “This is a normalized atrocity in our in our food system. They [chickens] are kept in windowless houses, trapped in cages and crates raised their babies are taken away.”

• “When it comes to this cutthroat billion-dollar companies [Tyson, Smithfield, etc.], those are the entities that deserve no mercy. And if you want to ring the alarm on them, ring it.”

• “The court’s decision, it’s, you know, it not only upheld proposition 12 and laws like it like Josh pointed out, but it essentially gave a judicial green light so that we can keep working in the legislatures to free animals from suffering and extreme confinement.”

At the HSUS TAFA Conference, held August 5-6 in Springfield, Ill., animal rights extremists came together to discuss lobbying and current political efforts in the animal rights space, specifically concerning the fur community. The conference focused on advocacy and the importance of building relationships with lawmakers. Here are a few quotes shared by speakers:

• “You might be surprised, but the time is going to come when you’re going to need to get everybody together to get that point for the animals.”

• “State by state, scorecards have been rolling out on a state-by-state basis, which literally hold legislators accountable for the votes they take or don’t take for animal welfare.”

• “We really had to focus on public safety, threats of danger to people, and elderly when we’re talking about people who are abusing animals.”

• “Smaller cities and towns or local lawmakers are probably not going to have staff. We can get into bigger, midsize cities, larger cities as well as your state legislatures they will often have staff and it’s really important to not undervalue the staff. Staff are there to support the lawmaker, but their job is to also go deep and to really kind of understand these issues and to help the lawmaker understand the issues and why they are important and might be important to the community. So, meeting with a staff person is a really great opportunity to pull someone else onto the team. They can be an internal advocate.”

As members of the animal agriculture community, these quotes can be frustrating to hear. I want to remind everyone of their responsibility to speak up and be an informed voice for animal agriculture and sharing our story.

Read More:

Animal Rights Extremist Connections and Tactics Updated in New Reports

Bring Back Field Trips

Activists Continue to ‘Storm the Courts’

Leading Experts Offer Beef Demand Insights

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:15:38 GMT

Mike Simone, Executive Director of market Research and Intelligence with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, says high beef prices are here to stay for a while for several reasons.

“Demand has been incredibly robust,” he stated on a recent PDPW Dairy Signal webinar, sharing that the persistent drought out west, which has recovered somewhat in some places with spring and early summer rains, but has impacted the overall reductions in the beef cattle herd.

“Reductions in the cattle herd has been a key factor in that high input cost for producers across the board,” he says. “This doesn’t have a real sense of that turning around quickly and producers have been quick to rebuild the herd.”

Brandon Scholtz, President and CEO of the Wisconsin Grocers Association, shared with the PDPW audience that the pandemic impacted prices and the supply chain. And consumers reacted.

“When we were dealing with COVID, beef prices were probably the prices to first start going up,” he says, sharing that grocery stores now promote family meals and cookouts, including meat, especially during the summer months.

“There was all sorts of social media promoting family. You see grocery stores recommending what to use for tailgates and barbecuing,” he shares, adding that consumers have traded down on certain types of cuts or even potentially traded out on protein options.

Future Consumer Insights

Simone says he never worried about the supply chain issues.

“We never thought twice about it,” he says. “We put our order in the stock, and it showed up. All of a sudden there was a pandemic and everybody’s talking about this. We know the workforce was productive. That was the big thing that drove everything, and it still does.”

Scholtz shares research is predicting that consumers are planning to dine out less in the coming months.

“They’re looking for deals or clipping coupons or shopping sales, they’re shopping multiple stores,” he explains. “We’ve continued to see people say they’re stocking up and freezing more and raising more beef and also finding more ways to deal with leftovers.”

Simone notes that he sees a continued collaboration with the grocery stores, as they give their customers suggestions on how to use beef.

“It used to be just a couple of recipes on the website, but it has grown significantly more than that too. I think there’s a lot of really positive stuff on social media in terms of how to incorporate beef and or other proteins into your diet, events, and recipes. You see so much creative stuff out there. And again, it comes out of people’s desire to try and make the most out of what they can get and how to kind of manage a price increase.”

To listen to the entire conversation of the Dairy Signal Beef Demand Insights click here:

Beef Demand Insights (mediasiteconnect.com)

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What Beef on Dairy Cross Has the Best Value?

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 21:45:18 GMT

The beef market is sizzling hot and dairy producers have not only noticed but have taken action to capitalize on securing an alternative profit source to their bottom line. The burning question is, how long will the beef market be strong and what is the ideal beef on dairy cross?

Jeremy Howard, senior sales and marketing manager with Simplot, says he believes that full beef embryos are the best option for packers and dairy producers.

“Because of various market opportunities, along with specific, individual goals, there is no optimum breed or bull,” he says. “The best choice for a dairy is to choose the option that’s tailored to their herd and produce a calf with the greatest value in their market.”

Beef Embryos

Like many producers, sexed semen proved successful, creating a plethora of replacement heifers for Ryan Junio of Four J Jerseys in Pixley, Calif. Nearly a decade ago, he introduced beef into his breeding program to essentially maintain the size of his Jersey herd.

Initially, Junio notes his beef program was swayed by the market; he used Wagyu, Charolais and Angus breeds. A few years ago, though, he saw the writing on the wall from his local buyer.

“If we wanted to stick around the beef game, we needed to start making a purebred beef calf,” Junio explains.

Currently, 250 Angus calves hit the ground monthly at Four J Jerseys. They use 90% of their 4,000-head milking herd as recipients for purebred Angus embryos that Junio then sells as day-old calves. Making the switch from AI to beef embryos has allowed Four J to maintain herd size while using sexed semen on youngstock and reserving the top 10% of the milking herd based on elite genetics for AI or Jersey embryo transfers (ET).

Jersey/Charolais Cross

One World Beef is the largest-scale slaughter processing facility in southern California, who prominently handles dairy or dairy-influenced cattle and specialize in grain-fed Holsteins, Wagyu and beef/dairy cross cattle. They are the second-largest exporter to Japan, Chile and China. Kim Herinckx, vice president of food safety and quality for One World Beef shares her favorite crop is the Jersey/Charolais cross.

“This cross upgrades the Jersey exponentially,” she explains. “Muscle marbling to durability to performance in the Southwest heat is impressive.”

Genetics can improve a lot with crossbreeding, but Herinckx underscores the importance of feeding an animal correctly.

“The problem we’re running into is that some traditional feedlots get black cross animals in, and they are feeding them like a traditional black animal, and it simply doesn’t work,” she says.

Beef will continue to be a hot choice by consumers as demand continues to be high and supplies are at the lowest level in decades. This all means that U.S. dairy producers will continue to lean forward at the opportunity to add dollars to their bottom line. Dan Basse with AgResource Company encourages dairy producers to breed more beef to their bottom-end cows.

“We all need to be doing our share in bringing food to the table because America is going to be needing this long term,” he said at the 2023 Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) Annual Meeting earlier this year. “63% of net farm revenue is money that you keep which is determined by the decisions you make in the markets.”

For more Beef on Dairy stories:

The Top 6 Survival Tips for Raising Teen Farm Kids

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:25:27 GMT

The toughest job in the world is that of being a mother. Raising children is tough. I think most moms would agree that they would take a toddler again over parenting a teenager. Raising teens is not easy and while many of those years are spent watching our children thrive, other times we are just trying to survive. Who is with me here?

Summer breaks mean longer days and while farmers love the endless sunlight to help with the endless workload, mothers might not share the same love. Summer means kids are home, and while that often means they can help more with the workload; it becomes a lot for parents at times. Sometimes when we are in the middle of preparing for county fair or baling straw is when the bellyaching occurs.

(Farm Journal)

The good news, or at least from my perspective, is that the older the teen gets the better the teen becomes. They learn the hard lessons that shape farmers to be the heartbeat of America, learning traits like commitment, working together and sacrifice.

Not long ago, I jotted down some survival tips when I found myself arguing with one of my teenagers. Let me assure you all, that I truly believe there is no better place to raise kids than on a farm. This especially holds true for teenagers who are finding their way and their purpose. There is always a job to do, and the landscape a farm provides is needed for a teen to figure out their purpose in life.

Fuel them up. Teenagers are growing at a rapid speed, so you must feed them. A LOT! I know this is a painful task, with groceries being so expensive, but my tip is to feed them some kind of protein before you talk to them. Feed your teens.

Establish boundaries. Those boundaries can be loosened the older and more mature they get. For example, my youngest son (age 13) has a rule that the phone is put up by 9 p.m. We let the kids know that phones are a privilege and when they are disrespectful, they lose privileges, like phones.

Establish expectations. This often means chores and what they are required to do around the farm, but also in the home. Sometimes when kids are having a tough time staying on task, I will write out what all needs to be done and then they can have time to hang out with friends, watch television or go fishing.

Step away. I began stepping away more. When it’s just the kids in the barn, they talk to each other — about school, about friends, about cows and farm life, and their problems. I think it’s healthy for open dialogue among siblings, and it is also healthy for kids to become their own problem solvers.

Fresh air. It cures just about anything. When kids have an attitude, scoot them outside.
Give them attention. While sometimes they might think they don’t need you (heck they might even be vocal to tell you that), spend time with your children. I would add, spend time with your children away from the farm and away from doing chores together. Grab ice cream in town together. Play basketball on the driveway together. Go watch a movie. Talk to them. Listen to them. Hug them. It’ll fill their hearts and minds, as well as yours.

Raising teens isn’t for the faint of hearts. It is a tough job. What tips would you add to this survival list?

The Future of Agricultural Lending

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 17:11:29 GMT

Be ready for new ways to finance your farm

Change is brewing in the agricultural lending system. Bank consolidation, a dramatic shift in farmer profitability, technological advances and more are driving how you will finance your operation in the future. Some changes will happen rapidly while others could take years — but you should prepare now for these issues.

FINANCIAL METRICS

The past few years of low commodity prices and financial stress make some lenders adjust the structures and requirements for their farm loans, says Ashley Arrington, Ag Resource Management real estate director.

“We saw financial ratios, such as debt to asset or the current ratio become lax, because no one could get approved,” she says. “With higher prices, bankers want to see improvement in the balance sheet. Bankers feel entitled to know how you will spend profits because they helped you through the bad times.”

DIGITAL BANKING

The digital world has finally hit ag lending, says Curt Covington, senior director of institution credit at AgAmerica Lending.

“Without a question, cloud-based scorecards and desktop appraisals will be the way of the future for ag credit,” he says. “The average farmer who qualifies for financing may not sit down with a lender. They will have access to capital on platforms where they put their loans out to bid and look for the best structure options.”

COLLATERAL OPTIONS

Expect alternative lenders to play a bigger role in financing, Covington says. These types of institutions provide fi-nancing options without the policies that often constrict the typical loan process. They don’t have the regulatory pressures of traditional banks.

With the cost to own land dramatically increasing, alternative lenders can offer farmers who rent most of their land another option, Arrington says. For instance, some use crop insurance or other risk management strategies as loan collateral.

RELATIONSHIPS

The changes above all point to a major shift where you might not have the same kind of close relationship with your banker in the future.

“This shift will be over time, and it will be a difficult process for farmers and bankers,” Covington says. “I’m not say-ing relationships will go away, but there will be situations where the relationship won’t be as tight. Having spent 40 years in this business, I’m not happy about that. But ultimately you have to accept reality.”

Many farmers use their bankers as a trusted financial adviser, he adds. These changes mean farmers will need to fill that role with a different person or service.

How do Covington and Arrington advise farmers to accept and gain from these changes? Keep an open mind and talk to financial consultants who can give you guidance.