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I grew up in Wisconsin and as a child, vacation meant going to my grandparents’ dairy farm in Prairie du Chien to help bale (really stack) hay or feed calves. The summer after my freshman year of college, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to drive 30 minutes to work on a dairy farm – for free! So, my love for dairy farms, dairy cows and milk, cheese and ice cream runs deep. When I saw the article, “Removal of dairy cows may reduce essential nutrient supply with little effect on greenhouse gas emission,” I knew I had to read it.

Ever since I was a child, I have loved science. I loved learning about how things grew, how chemicals worked together, you name it -- if it was at all science, I was interested. As I grew older, I saw how science can help solve problems, big and small. How with science, we can create apples that do not brown (and therefore my kids will eat them) or treat diseases with antibiotics and now, develop a vaccine that can help us all go “back to normal.”

Recently, we read an article about an organization in the United Kingdom that launched a program, “Organuary,” to promote consumer awareness and the human consumption of organ meats, citing their nutritional and environmental benefits. It’s an interesting concept.

Normally, a week before the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE), I’m busy checking lists on what we shipped to Atlanta, confirming flights and hotel reservations and picking up my dry cleaning so I’m ready to pack my luggage. This year, like much of the past 10 months, is very different. Who knew last year when I was in Atlanta that it would be one of my last flights for the year and my last time to see so many of my industry friends?

This fall, I had the opportunity to sit in on several virtual roundtables with many American Feed Industry Association members talking about how they dealt with COVID-19 in their businesses and operations. I was proud to hear every participant start by saying the health and safety of their staff, customers and suppliers was, and remains, their primary focus.

Over the past few months, I have been reflecting on the growing number of people who are in need of food assistance due to furloughs and layoffs from the coronavirus pandemic. Feeding America estimates that more than 50 million people, including 17 million children, could be food insecure this year due to the downtrodden economy. As a working-from-home mom, I spend a lot of time in the kitchen making sure my children eat balanced, nutritious meals, and cannot imagine the difficult choices facing some parents to keep their families fed during these trying times.

As I sit down to write this blog, my home office is shared with my second grader, while my sixth and ninth graders work from their bedrooms. The 2020-21 school year is not exactly how I planned it would be, but we are all adjusting. It’s been a while since I have shared an office with anyone and I’ve learned that noise cancelling headphones for both of us is very helpful! As teachers are pivoting to teach online (and parents who are supplementing during asynchronous time so they can do their jobs), I thought about all the agricultural groups that have pulled together great educational resources that can be used for school-aged children. 

I am sure you saw the headlines a few weeks ago about Burger King’s new advertising campaign and how the fast food retailer plans to reduce greenhouse gases by including lemongrass in cattle diets. Well, surprise, surprise! Their description of cows emitting gas (aka farts) is just plain wrong and the research they used on the feed ingredient is inconclusive.