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Karen Bohnert

Dairy Editorial Director

Karen Bohnert is the Dairy Editorial Director at Farm Journal, overseeing Dairy Herd Management and Milk Business Quarterly since 2021. A lifelong advocate for dairy, Karen draws from both professional expertise and personal experience—she and her husband operate Bohnert Jerseys, a 750-cow dairy in East Moline, Illinois.

Raised on a dairy farm in Oregon, her editorial career spans freelance journalism and roles at organizations like Swiss Valley Farms and the American Jersey Cattle Association. She was named a Distinguished Alumni Leader by the Holstein Foundation.

Latest Stories
Recently, Ashley Hagenow traded in her rubber boots for heels as she was selected to serve as the 76th Alice in Dairyland. She will promote Wisconsin agriculture across the Badger State throughout the next year.
Workers who help produce sour cream for brands, including Taco Bell, Wendy’s and Hello Fresh, have gone on strike. Teamsters Local 662 members at New Dairy Select Milk, a subsidiary of Borden Dairy are striking.
Producers feel exhausted dealing with the highs and lows of the industry. Add in the current state of the dairy economy with low milk prices, and it’s not too surprising that mental health is also impacting producers.
One by one poor-performing cows are exiting herds as lackluster milk price makes it easier for producers to cull cows. The big question remains - have we culled enough cows to boost milk price?
Bongards Creameries, a leading national cheese and whey manufacture recently announced a $125 million expansion project. The project will increase the plant’s capacity to take in 5.5 million lbs. of milk per day.
Another round of Dairy Margin Coverage payments will be coming to producer’s mailboxes, making this the largest payment yet.
Nestled in a beautiful secluded mountain valley at Colorado State University beef feedlot in Ft. Collins served as the location for AgNext’s climate-smart research facility ribbon cutting ceremony earlier this month.
Two producers on the opposite side of the country: Dwayne Faber of Washington and Val Lavigne of New York joined AgriTalk host Chip Flory and spoke about the challenges facing their dairies.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office, a California man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison due to his involvement in a nearly $9 million cow manure Ponzi scheme.
Feed costs will continue to be the No. 1 expense. Jim Salfer, Extension dairy educator with the University of Minnesota, offers some best practices to help producers lower feed costs.
Louise Malecha wears her titles as a badge of honor—that of a farm mom, farm wife, nana, businesswoman and entrepreneur. With her newly released second book, Malecha can also add published author to her long resume.
With the U.S. dairy exports documenting their worst year-over-year decline in four years, Ben Laine with Terrain says the headwinds facing dairy exports side of the equation is what concerns him the most right now.
Dairy farmer Charles Krause traveled to Southeast Asia where he and fellow dairy producers learned more about how the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) mission has helped increase demand for U.S. dairy products.
After hearing reports of milk being dumped due to the surplus of milk on the market, the recent USDA Milk Production report wasn’t surprising. The May report documented a 0.6% increase over a year prior.
Last year’s record milk price year fueled producers to strategically plan how to utilize the extra income from strong milk prices. Now many producers are wondering what has changed to wildly swing milk prices.