Chris Hardie

Spring is the season of birth on the farm and in nature. Our farm is home to many deer; late May or early June is when does give birth.

Phenology, the study of the timing of biological events in plants and animals in relation to change in season and climate, is a familiar concept for most farmers.

Most things with our minds and bodies decline as we get older, but stubbornness can actually increase with age. At least, it does in my case.

Find your purpose and pursue it with passion. You can drift through life or set your own course. It’s okay to not know now what you’ll know later. There’s always room in life for excellence and for people who make a difference.

One sign that spring has arrived is when I realize that no matter how many hours I try to squeeze into the day it just isn’t long enough to finish my work.

Nettles, one of the first green plants in the spring, are a welcome sight after a long, harsh winter. Just be careful to avoid their sting.

A few weeks a year, we’re trapped in the no man’s land between winter and spring. On the farm, it’s time to clean the barns and the winter feeding areas.

It’s likely the first honey-do list in history preceded the written language. Now we have apps that can remind us what needs to be done.

With broken windows and open doorways, the elements are taking their toll on this old feed mill. Without some work and funds, it will soon be beyond repair.

Wisconsin’s agricultural legacy of family dairy farms is dying. Years of depressed milk prices are taking their toll, forcing those farms to close.