‘Cultivating Calm’ presentation to be held in Abbotsford on Feb. 26
The Marathon County Farm Bureau and UW Extension are hosting a special presentation, “Cultivating Calm: Managing Stress in Cattle and Farm Life,” on Wednesday, Feb. 26, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Abbotsford City Hall, 203 N 1st St., Abbotsford.
Most dairy managers dream of the “anonymous” cow. Trouble-free in udder conformation and mobility; rarely, if ever, treated for health events; and breeds back year after year. She’s anonymous because, on a day-today basis, our only interaction with her is milking.
Anonymous cows do not need to be handled or receive special attention. Why do cows that face a common challenge (stress) respond differently to it (strain), and how do managers capitalize on this? The short answer is genetics, but it isn’t that simple. This presentation will feature an in-depth discussion.
Research shows that working with other family members and succession planning are top stressors for farmers. This presentation will provide an overview of common barriers to planning for the next generation of owners/ managers for family-owned farms.
Recent research will be presented on what farmers see as the barriers and how farm owners can better prepare for their meetings with farm succession service professionals.
Joy Kirkpatrick will provide practical tools farmers can use to get the important and hard conversations started at the farm/family level. A three-step planning process provides a framework that farm members can follow and break down into smaller action steps. It blends practical, technical steps with ideas to address the emotional and personal dynamics that can derail succession planning.
The schedule is: 9:30 a.m. - Registration 10:00 a.m. - “Stress and Strain Effects on Cattle Reproduction,” presented by Heather Schlesser 10:30 a.m. - “Alternative Forage Options,” presented by Matt Lippert and Melissa Ohlrich 11:30 a.m. - Lunch sponsored by Marathon County Farm Bureau 12:15 p.m. - “Cultivating Calm Conversations: A three-step approach to Farm Succession Planning,” presented by Joy Kirkpatrick 1:15 p.m. - “Ways to cope with stress” presented by Carissa Weber, The Joyful Mind 1:45 p.m. - Panel discussion: “Real World Stress Reduction Techniques,” presented by Ashleigh Calaway and other farm women.
To learn more information or to register go to marathon.extension.wisc.edu and click on the “Cultivating Calm” link. The registration deadline is Monday, Feb. 17.
