I don’t know about you, but life has felt completely upended since early last year with the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout our world, in our communities and at home. Looking beyond the coronavirus headlines, there’s a daily barrage of negative news, from labor shortages, empty store shelves and increased food prices, to natural disasters and political divisiveness. This doesn’t include the personal burdens that many of us bear. There’s no doubt…
Tara Vander Dussen, the New Mexico Milkmaid, is “udderly in love with dairy.” I was fortunate to meet Tara and witness her passion first–hand during a recent visit to her family farm, Rajen Dairy, in Eastern New Mexico. Tara is a fifth–generation Dutch dairy farmer who left the farm after high school to earn an environmental science degree from the University of Arizona. It wasn’t her plan to come back, but after marrying her husband Daniel, Tara returned to dairy. Now she works alongside Daniel, his parents…
How can a dairy farm generate enough energy to power 3,000 homes? Imagine a farmer reducing nitrogen emissions by 90 percent, and another diverting 2,000 pounds of food otherwise destined for landfills. More about these real-life dairy sustainability stories in my latest blog.