Winter is my least favorite season, especially on the farm. Every morning you break the ice out of the calf water buckets, and making sure lines are emptied and doors are shut tight is an every-evening routine so that nothing freezes up in the barn. Double checking all the animals becomes even more important, as…
Have you ever considered how much faith those involved in that first Christmas needed? Mary, who was told the Holy Spirit would breathe a new life into her. Joseph who stood by her side despite what the rumors may have been. The Wise Men who traveled many miles to a simple manger filled with hay…
When I was 19, I got a crash course in double clutching when I got thrown in the ten-wheel truck during forage harvesting. We were in the middle of tourist season in Gettysburg, and I found myself constantly struggling to keep from stalling out in between low and high gear. I will never forget how…
In October, I had the opportunity to participate in two different roundtable discussions that presented different perspectives on dairy farm management styles than I had not previously considered. Although it did not make me want to immediately upend our current approach to how we dairy, it did remind me of something I learned a long…
A pair of two red maple trees sit across the lane from our house. They sit against the landscape of the valley below the farm in a way that displays the passing of the seasons like no other. In the spring, the red buds burst against the dark bark, changing to a cascade of green…
I spent the day after Mother’s Day helping our hoof trimmer. Since our herd is relatively small, we do not have sort gates and chutes that maneuver cows in a different direction when needed. The hoof trimmer does have gates we can use to convert the parlor to a chute, but the cows still must…
Recently I had the opportunity to attend the wrap-up dinner for our on-farm interns. Each year the Dairy Excellence Foundation works with the Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association to support a handful of college students who are placed as summer interns on dairy farm operations in and outside of Pennsylvania. This…
There is no doubt that 2025 has had its share of challenges for those in the dairy industry in Pennsylvania. After peaking at $25.50 per hundredweight in October 2024, the all-milk price has been steadily falling, dropping to a low of $21 in April 2025 before increasing only 30 cents to $21.30 in May. Class…
Just in time for June Dairy Month, the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry approved the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act out of their committee. A similar piece of legislation was approved by the House Education and Workforce Committee in February. If signed into law, the legislation will provide schools with the…
To me, it seems ironic that May is Mental Health Month, both from a farm perspective and from the perspective of a mother. From both perspectives, it’s a month that reminds you about all the uncertainty that exists in life. On the farm, May is typically the month when everything comes on at once. The…
