I realize that as you are reading this, Mother’s Day has already passed. Yet, the mothers in our lives deserve far more than just one day of recognition each year.

I think it is safe to say that all of us experience both good days and bad days.

Words are extremely powerful. Written words can completely change a person’s attitude.

I realize that very few people intentionally plan for failure in their day. Yet somehow, like the Mayhem character in those insurance commercials, failure seems to find all of us sooner or later.

I’m guessing that many of you never even noticed the title of this regular column, “The courage to evolve.” There was actually a great deal of thought and reflection that went into choosing those words.

De nombreux parents qui ont des filles auront déjà vécu ce moment tant redouté… Ma fille m’a dit de m’asseoir et m’a lancé : « Il faut qu’on parle. »

Bien des choses sont absolument fascinantes. L’une d’elles est la façon dont un feu de camp danse sous les étoiles, léchant le bois et dansant tout autour. Une autre est la façon dont on peut regarder un pareur d’onglons travailler minutieusement pour révéler un onglon propre ou quelque chose de plus étonnant.

Je n’aime pas les chats. Ma femme et mes trois filles, elles, les adorent! Puisque c’est moi qui mène dans cette maison, nous sommes officiellement une famille… avec des chats! 

Quand j’étais plus jeunet, mes parents m’ont appris les bonnes manières : ne pas fixer les gens du regard, tenir la porte ouverte, ne pas parler la bouche pleine, respecter les aînés, etc. 

Parfois, je consulte mon compte bancaire en ligne et je me demande où est passé tout mon argent. Je peux en suivre la trace, mais il finit par disparaître plus vite que prévu.

Ces derniers temps, j’ai passé plusieurs jours à écrire mes mémoires et à trier mes souvenirs en me berçant dans la proverbiale chaise de ma grand-mère. 

Au cours des dernières années, l’agriculture a connu des changements structurels importants, notamment en ce qui a trait aux types et aux méthodes d’élevage et de culture.

Ce genre de situation me rappelle chaque fois pourquoi j’ai choisi l’agriculture. Pour ses gens. Pour ses valeurs authentiques.

Joyeuse 60^e édition du magazine! Comme le temps passe vite! Difficile de croire que nous célébrons déjà la publication du 60^e numéro de Progressive Dairy – en français. 

It’s that time of year in the Faber household where the calendar turned over to November and Mrs. Faber and the three girls decided that it’s time for Christmas.

In the early 17th century, the country of England dictated limits on expression of freedom and worship. Those that didn’t submit were jailed, punished and even put to death.

Beyond Meat, that company that makes fake meat, is in need of some serious veterinarian care. The stock price has gone from $181 a share to less than $3, and they are hemorrhaging cash faster than a dairy with $13 milk and $400 corn.

The smell of pumpkin spice lattes, chopped corn silage and the last manure application of the year hang heavy in the air. It’s my favorite time of year.

It’s that time of year again – the geese are flying south for the winter, the corn has been harvested, SEC football teams are dominating, and it's time for World Dairy Expo (WDE).

Idaho was the second-fastest-growing state in the nation from 2010 to 2020, hitting 17.3% growth over the decade. Idaho has gone from 1.567 million in the 2010 U.S. Census to 2.002 million in the July 2024 estimate.

Imagine my shock, then, when last fall I discovered that we were due to deliver another pivot. I hadn’t even known we were expecting.

Now, 50 years later, I’m beginning to realize how much age and time have altered my mother’s memory. She retold the story of the great river crossing during a recent family Zoom call, and I was stunned. She misremembered every detail. She called the river a “stream” and Easter’s great leap a “hop,” and she claimed she’d clapped and cheered my landing – not in awe – but to keep me from crying.

I’m not ashamed to admit that one of the happiest days of my life was in high school, and it was a revenge day. What’s worse, it was a revenge day exacted against an innocent person who had no idea I even had a stake in his tragedy.

I might be a little old school or perhaps ignorant, but I’ve been pretty skeptical of AI. However, I must admit – this technology is incredible and it’s here to stay.

My mom made me this quilt the year we sold our cows. Faces of cows cover it, adorned with pink eartags and the control numbers of cows that had a big influence in my life.

My new life on the farm was an adjustment not only for me, but for the people around me. Sharing my journey helped bridge that gap. What began as updates for friends and family slowly grew into a way of building understanding for people both inside and outside the agriculture industry.

Shorter days and quieter routines leave more space for isolation to creep in, making winter feel heavier than the wet snow on the end of your shovel. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned along the way that I think can help farmers get through the winter months.

Is this a Super Bowl-sized victory for the beef industry? You bet! Will the victory last long? Probably not.

I learned a number of years ago that the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima was nothing like it is portrayed in Washington D.C.

It was late in the fall, and Joshua and I were out cutting firewood for our outdoor wood furnace. We use our furnace to heat our home along with the hot water for our home and our milkhouse.

My grandfather, Paul K. Heck, farmed almost his whole life. He was one who enjoyed working with livestock and crops.

Years ago, I dated a very special, beautiful young lady whose name was Joanne. I started dating her at Christmastime, and by the time Valentine’s Day came around, I was in love with her.

Some people are happy to have the old year behind them and to have the start of a new one. Some people are happy for the first day of the new year and then, as one woman said, “It’s back to the same old grind.” I can relate.

Snow was falling, and I had planned a day of repairs in the shop. I wandered back to the ditch with the old machinery to look for a piece of metal for a welding project.

Her dad shook her shoulder lightly. She slowly opened her eyes; the transition to the bright overhead light he’d flipped on was jarring. Then, she remembered with a quick rise of her pulse, it was Christmas. Had she slept in? Where were Clara and Ethan?

I went for a walk today. When I dropped my kids off for the bus, it was 32ºF. By noon, when I emerged from the cocoon of my office, it was 58ºF, and the sun was shining. There was enough of a breeze to remind me that a jacket was the correct choice. 

A hay‑scouting trip in the early ’70s becomes a snapshot in time, complete with a ’66 Ford, new country and one unexpected rock in the trunk.

A retired concrete mixer with a stretched snout and diamond‑plate fenders became one of Idaho’s most unconventional hay trucks.

A hay truck Anchor‑Loc seat once set the bar for comfort, and I’ve been chasing that perfect ride ever since.

This is a story of a dairy farmer running on little sleep, a WD‑45 tractor and one unforgettable detour through a sugarbeet field. See what happens when the dew is perfect, the clock is unforgiving and fatigue finally wins.

In my lifetime, I have seen dads come and go. Some who would be classed as knights in shining armor and those who would not.

The plagues of Egypt. What an awesome, awful story. It has always made me shudder and wonder why a loving God would bring such curses upon the entire country of Egypt when it was Pharaoh who made all the decisions.

There is an old hymn that asks the question, “Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?” The better question would be, “When you left your room this morning, did you think when you prayed?”

In the beginning when God looked upon the vast chaos of eternity and the darkness of the water, He said, “Let there be light,” and saw the light was good.

The treadmill of life doesn’t afford the time to stop and think, let alone sort out the pieces and put them where they belong. We blindly go from one task to the next seemingly without rhyme or reason.

Eh bien, ici Tim qui vous rappelle que la Saint-Valentin approche à grands pas! Si nous avons appris quelque chose des vacances, c’est que les cartes de crédit ont des limites, tout comme les pantalons de yoga.

My wife sometimes asks why I keep ordering wings where we live, even if I know they won’t be good. In the end, I believe it’s a way to explain to myself where I come from and how that place has shaped me.

Part of being on a farm in the last three or four decades, I would argue, is the feeling of being misunderstood – or worse, forgotten. The harder it became to make a living in the industry, the more it felt like no one cared. The sense of tribalism, at least my participation in it, was to reassure myself that there were others like me and my family and that we still mattered. 

Growing up, our garden was less a place of vegetables than a weedier portion of our lawn. Whatever enthusiasm my parents found on a warm spring day to scatter seeds had usually evaporated by the time fieldwork took off.

Even if they weren’t going to be farmers, the Gibson Brothers worked the same as any other farm kids, sent from one task to another whenever they weren’t in school. They brought that work ethic with them to the music industry, which they joked was much like farming with its uncertainties and stresses.

When it comes to agricultural policy, there are many reasons to support the viability of family farms. One of them is to recognize the ability of farms to help sustain the communities around them. Family agriculture keeps money and people in the area, improving the local economy and ultimately empowering its rural residents.

Most people understand that what we eat affects our physical health – our weight, our energy levels, and our risk for chronic disease. But fewer people realize the profound impact food has on our mental health. What we put on our plates can either support or sabotage our state of mind.

Spring is often thought of as a time with tulips in bloom, buds on the trees and green grass again. While these may be some of the highlights of spring, I feel that as a season, it is so much more than that.

Almost 50 years ago, my Christmas wish list had just one thing: The Marvelous Milking Machine. If you grew up in the '70s or early '80s, you might remember her better by her official name – Milky the Marvelous Milking Cow.

My wife handed me Dad’s shoes … hmm … what do I do with them? I knew these were Dad’s last pair of work shoes he used while we still had cows.