Being Wisconsin born and raised on a farm, I can honestly say that I’ve dealt with much of the worst that winter can offer. I have cut wood in snow up to my waist, pounded on frozen manure spreader...

While politicians and others way above my station and pay grade continue to debate, expound upon and expunge homosapien influence on the stratosphere, one thing I know for sure. The winter weather has...

I have completed my quinquennial agricultural legal reporting duties with a week to spare. My 2022 Census of Agriculture – with a deadline of Feb. 6 – is in the books, a mandatory reporting requirement...

There are quite a few Chris Hardie’s in the world – or at least a few others that share the same name. Years ago when social media was new, I sought a few out and we exchanged some messages. But...

I don’t play the lottery and don’t frequent casinos, but if I were a betting man, I’d lay odds that sometime in the next few years I will be involved in a deer-vehicle collision. A deer crash...

A lot of time and money has been spent in our country coming up with increased security and contingency plans for the possibility of a terrorist or cyber-attack on our electrical grid. With winter weather...

Thanksgiving has come and gone but perhaps this can be the year that we turn a day of thankfulness into a holiday season of gratitude. I can see, smell and hear the ghosts of Thanksgiving’s past when...

The end of October and early November brings the fall breeding season for deer, also known as the rut. It’s a time of physiological, behavior and chemical changes for deer as well as for bow hunters...

Our topsy-turvy spring weather so far this year has not inspired ambitions of gardening, but the show must go on. At least that’s what my wife Sherry told me recently when she decided it was time...

I was having a conversation recently with a crop farmer who remarked that she was enjoying the calm before the storm. It was early April and in just a few days she and her husband would be busy with...

Moving back to the country 16 years ago brought me back to many tasks and chores I experienced as a farm kid, but it also gave us the chance to try some new activities. One of them was raising pigs...

Even when the icy grip of winter keeps holding on, there are signs of spring around us. One sure sign for me was when my animal waterer that froze at the end of January finally thawed. It’s a relief...