National Dairy Quality Awards!

We are honored and thrilled to be a recipient of the National Dairy Quality Awards! We received a Gold, and this is our third year in a row of being recognized.

We were nominated by Brittni Tucker at our co-op, and the description reads: "These operations stood out for having produced high-quality milk consistently Applications were evaluated for measures of quality, systems of monitoring udder health, milking routine, protocols for detection and treatment of clinical and subclinical cases of mastitis, and strategies for overall herd health and welfare."

Thank you to the sponsors, especially Hoard's Dairyman, and thank you especially to our team members. It's because of their dedication and attention to detail that our cows are so well cared for and produce such great, high-quality milk. 

Our many publications

I've talked before about how many farm magazines there are - both free and subscription.  (Don't think I'm complaining.  I read - or at least skim - them all before I throw them on Kris' pile.)  Today our haul was particularly interesting. 

- First of all, Michigan Farm News had an article 'Deer killer confirmed in 17 Michigan counties'.  It's not a poacher ... it states that the deer deaths are indeed caused by epizootic hemorrhagic disease, and that so far 900 dead deer have been reported to their office.  The article also states, "Past observations have revealed that simultaneous infections sometimes occur in deer, cattle, and sheep. Discovery of illness in deer indicates that infected biting midges are present in the vicinity, and thus, both deer and livestock are at risk of infection." 

Our furnace turned on for the first time last night.  I don't usually hope for an early frost, but - any day now would be fine ...

- I opened up Progressive Dairyman and saw my blog under Tech Tools - Featured Blogs.  I always read that section and it was a pleasant surprise! 

- Hoard's Dairyman is an age-old (since 1885!), well-respected,  and usually good magazine.  We pay for this one, even.  I could talk about all the good articles that are in there, but today one sentence really threw me.  The article was called 'Natural-service bulls can't compete with technology.'  We use natural-service bulls, so I was interested in the study.  Instead, I got this sentence, "While space does not allow us to go through details, we can tell you this ... the results of these two studies indicate that TAI, despite long resemination intervals, either did not compromise or may have even enhanced reproductive performance when compared to natural service."         

Ha!  Who needs to know anything about the study when you can just tell me the results?  Maybe give them another page in the magazine, leave that sentence out, or reflect on what my dad always says, "Magazines are written to make money."

Or, talk about the article at length with your husband and sons and realize ... good, bad, featured, not - I'd much rather get any magazine in the mail than another bill.

Red, red ...

A friend shared this picture on Facebook.  I was looking at it on my phone, so it was pretty small.  This is what I saw:

What was your immediate thought?  Mine was not rose petals and a sweet proposal.  Apparently my mind is in birthing cow mode.