Kathryn Kulp

I would have never thought in my wildest dreams that I would live through a world-wide pandemic. Every aspect of my life has been altered in one sense or another. My school, work, and personal life have all changed. By writing this blog, I will discuss more specifically how Covid-19 has affected me and how I am coping with the continuously coming changes.

School-life changes

While enjoying spring break, I started to hear from my friends that the universities they attended were closing and switching to online instruction. I knew it was only a matter of time until I would hear the same news regarding Penn State. Sure enough, within a day or two, I got the email that classes were being moved online for at least three weeks. I live in a very rural community, so my first concern was dealing with problematic internet connectivity. There have been ups and downs with the wifi, but any problems that we had were short lived.

Growing up, I was homeschooled along with my five other siblings. We live in an older farmhouse, so space is not overly abundant. With all universities closed, the six of us are back living under one roof and trying to stay out of each other’s way. That has been a challenge in itself. After somewhat of a learning curve, we are better at giving one another space and being respectful of those streaming classes or trying to get homework done.

Work-life Changes

I work on my family dairy farm, and although it is an essential business that is allowed to stay open, there are some changes that have been implemented. To aid in creating a germ-free environment, there are hand-washing stations at every door. Now, whenever an employee wants to enter the barn or parlor area, they must first wash their hands before touching anything. Compared to companies that have shut down completely, things haven’t changed all that much for us. It’s quieter with no visitors to the farm, but the cows have to be milked, so the work continues.

Personal-life changes

At times during this quarantine, I have wished Covid-19 had happened over the winter. During the winter, staying inside or isolated wouldn’t be much of a hardship. However, now that spring is here, I find myself missing many of the social events that normally come with the changing of the seasons. Every May, all the 7th graders in Blair county come to tour the farm for an agriculture career day. There are normally around 1400 kids that come and this year it had to be cancelled. Both the kids and everyone on the farm look forward to the event, so that has been rather disappointing. Despite not having visitors to come tour, we have begun our annual “spring cleaning” anyways.

Another thing that I have missed is Sunday morning church services. So often, I took being able to go to church for granted. Meeting together and worshiping freely is an immense privilege. Our church still conducts online services, but it isn’t the same as being together with the whole church family.

Moving Forward

There are so many things in life that I have underappreciated. Covid-19 has taught me to value friends and family in ways that I haven’t in the past, as well as given me a new appreciation for technology. I thankful that I can still feel connected even during this time of isolation. Once this pandemic has come and gone, I don’t think I will ever again take normal life and its beauty for granted.

Introduction

Dairy farming is a tough line of work in more than one way. This occupation is hard in the sense that it demands long hours and back-breaking work, but it is also difficult due to financial difficulties. Because milk is a perishable commodity, farmers are forced to take the price they can get for their product, good or bad. In their article, “Managing financial information: Keep your eyes on the road,” Sam Miller and Brad Guse compare operating a dairy farm to driving a vehicle down the road. In this blog, I will discuss the main points of the article and why they are relevant to today’s dairy producers.

Looking ahead

Miller and Guse discuss how farmers have two options: to keep their eyes scanning the road ahead of them or to spend their time looking in the rear-view mirror. To me, this means farmers need to try to figure out what they can do to make their operation viable in the ever-changing dairy economy. Producers can’t look to things that they have done well in the past and expect those things to propel them forward. Miller and Guse say, “We’ve found when it comes to farm financial management, too many operators are paying too much attention to what’s already behind them, when they should be looking at the road ahead.” I think farmers need to look to the future by continually reassessing their operations, in order to take every opportunity to create quality products in an efficient and economical way.

Short vs long term

When assessing the viability of a dairy operation, the driver (dairy producer) needs to watch for both near and distant obstacles. There are two main categories that Miller and Guse suggest looking into. They list both short term information (milk sales, working capital, and short-term borrowing capacity) and long-term information (earned net worth and growth in earnings from equity). I think both sets of information are valuable to a dairy business. Short-term information can show the farmer things that should be changed or dealt with rapidly, or perhaps factors that may alter their profits for a short period of time. Long-term elements show a producer where their business has done well, or not done well, in the past and gives them ideas regarding where their business needs to move in the future.

Maintaining the engine of the operation

Just as a car needs the engine to function properly to reach its destination, an effective dairy farm needs its engine maintained and kept in tune to reach its goals. Miller and Guse give a list of helpful questions that dairies need to ask themselves about their operation. The questions mostly revolve around financial decisions. I agree that farmers need to be involved in the financial workings of their operations now more than ever before. Miller and Guse state, “Farm financial management is not why you got into this business. In a tighter margin environment, however, you need to keep your focus on what’s ahead of your operation for

it to be sustainable.” I remember that 2014 was the best year farmers on the East Coast had ever seen. As long as farmers took good care of their cows and produced a quality product, milk prices were high enough then that bankruptcy wasn’t really a threat. Now the price of milk has dropped significantly, forcing producers to be at the top of their game, both financially and from a quality standpoint.

Conclusion

Operating a successful dairy farm is more difficult now than ever. The price of milk is lower due to efficient dairies in the Midwest finding economic ways to ship their milk east. Dairies on the East Coast with all their inefficiencies are finding it more and more difficult to compete. The article by Miller and Guse is a great tool for farmers to use to assess the viability and efficiency of their business in the ever-changing dairy market.

Types of Pneumonia

Dr. Leiterman discusses the two main categories of calfhood pneumonia: environmental cases and contagious cases. He explains environmental cases stem from poor air quality or improper ventilation techniques. Any other type of pneumonia that isn’t due to air quality would likely be considered a contagious case. Growing up on a dairy farm with over 1,000 calves raised a year, I’ve seen many types of pneumonia run rampant. I’ve noticed among the calf population in the bank barn, where air quality is less than optimal, the calves are more likely than the outdoor-housed calves to develop an environmental strand of pneumonia. According to Dr. Leiterman, “poor ventilation in calf housing is the main environmental risk factor predisposing calves to respiratory disease.” I consider environmental pneumonia easier to address than contagious, simply because the problem can likely be solved by installing a better air system. If the problem is contagious pneumonia, the root of the issue is more difficult to locate. Once the cause is identified, the next step would then be to eliminate the problem, in order to prevent it from spreading from calf to calf.