There’s a stack of cards that sit on a wooden stand on my bedroom windowsill. Every morning, I remove the front-facing card and place it at the end of the deck to expose a new one. On each card is a statement of reflection – part of an ongoing effort to develop my interior life.

In southern Italy, there are narratives under the surface that most citizens try to be ignorant of. While it makes for good television in other countries, the existence of the mafia is still an everyday part of life for people in certain Italian regions.

Service enrollment for the 2024 Dairy Margin Coverage program will begin Wednesday, Feb. 28. Dairy producers will have until April 29 to complete their enrollment in the voluntary dairy safety net program.

A smaller milking herd, tight replacement heifer supplies to keep barns full and slight improvements in milk income margins contributed to a slowdown in dairy culls marketed for beef to end 2023. That trend has continued to start 2024.

Here’s a summary of news impacting your dairy in this third week of February 2024.