About half of those receiving this issue of the magazine will be reading Progressive Dairyman for the first time. We welcome you to our family!Our magazine is published by a family-owned business that has been producing dairy-focused content for more than 25 years.
The magazine got its start as a regional newsletter for Idaho dairy families.
We’re still based in Idaho, though our magazine is now printed in the Midwest. We’ve had a track record of sustained expansion, just like most of you. And we are now excited to begin distributing our award-winning magazine to all dairies in the U.S.
Our industry continues to consolidate, actually at a faster pace in 2013 than the average of the past five years.
We believe that the dairies that remain in business today want to stay that way. You’ve survived the financial crisis and milk price collapse of 2009. We want to help you and your family find success in the dairy industry for at least another generation, if not two or more. ( Click here to read an article about how to prepare your dairy for two successful generations of business ownership transfer.)
We hope our content will start conversations across the country about important topics and issues facing our industry.
Readers familiar with our magazine know that I have an “open door” policy. I welcome your feedback on any of the content you find in this issue’s pages. Or more importantly, I’d like to hear what you’d like to read in future issues of the magazine. We’re here to serve you and your family, as the tagline on our magazine states. Call, email, fax or write me at any time. I do respond to every inquiry.
You’re receiving this magazine free of charge. In fact, it’s the only free magazine reaching all U.S. dairies.
In order to continue to receive it, we ask that you acknowledge you want future issues. If you’re receiving this magazine for the first time, look in between pages 12 and 13. You’ll find a free subscription request application. Please fill out the inserted form and return it to us or click here to subscribe online. We’ll make sure that you get regular issues of the magazine.
Even if you’ve been receiving this magazine for a while, please check between those pages. If you too find an insert there, it means it’s time to renew.
When we announced last year our intention to send our magazine to all dairymen in the country, I made the following statement about what dairymen could expect of the content we would publish. I’ve inserted a few specific page numbers from this issue that confirms we’ve delivered on this promise:
“Articles in these issues to all dairymen will review and analyze industry trends. ( Click here for an article about the 30-year effect of increased cheese consumption on milk demand.) They will answer the who, why and how of established industry issues in longer form.
(Search for writer Dave Wilkins for several articles about a legal battle over groundwater quality and manure management that may have implications for everyone. We promised it would be long form, and the story is truly in-depth and personal.) Articles will challenge present realities and provoke thoughtful discussion about how to improve the industry for the better.
(A guest contributor asks “Where are the ladies?” in the board rooms of dairy organizations.) These issues will feature dairymen and women from herds of all sizes who are exceptional in their on-farm work or off-the-farm activities. (There are two farm feature stories in this issue, one from Michigan and one from Wisconsin .)”
We’re not done trying to improve Progressive Dairyman . As I’ve said before, we aim to surprise you each issue with what a dairy magazine is capable of delivering. I think you’ll find this issue has its own special surprise factor. Enjoy! PD
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Walt Cooley
- Editor-in-chief
- Progressive Dairyman
- Email Cooley
