It’s back to school time. It’s also state fair time. Those two things don’t work very well when happening simultaneously; it’s unsurprisingly hard to be both in a classroom somewhere in …

I’d like to introduce you to one of our newest farm staff members, Maple. Unfortunately, it’s not really possible for you to meet Ms. Maple unless you stop by our farm, but I’ll do my best …

I’m sitting down to write this month’s column, and I don’t have anything in particular to tell you all about. I spent all day cutting and then merging second-crop hay, trying to think of what …

Starting around May 25 until sometime mid-June, I fall into a parallel universe where my general sense of time ceases to line up with everyone else’s. We’ll call it the haying season universe. I …

Emily and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary in January. We love traveling, as you probably know if you’ve been reading my columns for a while. Our honeymoon was spent traveling to …

Not everyone likes cats in their barn. They have little regard for your preference of where they poop and seem to take great joy in peeing on bags of salt and minerals. I learned a long time ago …

I don’t go to bars, pubs, taverns, breweries or distilleries often. It’s not that I don’t enjoy alcoholic beverages or the company of whoever happens to be there. I love both of those, possibly …

It has been a theme of my columns lately to write about something I have read recently, and this month is no different. My wife, Emily, read the book “When It All Burns” by Jordan Thomas. She …

One of the audiobooks I’ve listened to while doing chores over the holidays is “Typee” by Herman Melville. If that author’s name sounds familiar, it’s because he also wrote the book most of …

Things tend to come in threes — ocean waves, broken farm equipment and religious leaders in jokes involving entering a bar. This is why, when something big breaks down on the farm, I …

Sitting down to write my article for this month, I have a quiet house. Emily is at parent-teacher conferences for our daughter, Hannah; Jonnie is at the National FFA Convention; and Erik has moved to …

World Dairy Expo isn’t over yet, or at least not as I sit down to write this, but it is for my daughter Hannah and me. We just got back from a fun-filled 5-day trip to Madison, Wisconsin, last …

We take our kids on a solo trip of their choice for their birthday every seven years. They’ve chosen places like Washington, D.C., Yosemite and the Oregon Coast. This year, Hannah turned 14, …

It’s our county fair this week. The kids get to see how they did in picking and training their animals for the show. This year, we have 16 animals at the fair. We have four families who lease …

I am a big fan of Kwik Trip gas stations. I don’t think I’m alone in my appreciation for a well-run place to stop for gas, use the facilities and grab a snack while out and about. I also …

We got our first crop of hay put up in record time. That is not typical, thanks to breakdowns and weather. It’s not that we don’t maintain our equipment. I have a whole file cabinet …

I don’t remember how it started, but my Zweber cousins have a book club. I am a member of this club as I love reading any and all books. Sometimes, I think they may wish I weren’t a …

I hadn’t bought a tube of ChapStick in so long that I couldn’t remember what decade I last used the product. That was before last week, when I made an emergency stop at Kwik Trip and had …

Mark Twain once said, “Never discuss politics or religion in polite company.” While it’s been 115 years since Twain’s passing, that advice seems as relevant now as it was …

“Quite the weather we’re having,” is a popular phrase in our family this winter season. Then again, what winter season in the Upper Midwest isn’t it a popular phrase? Some …