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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
The California Milk Advisory Board announced the return of its student internship program where young agriculture ambassadors. California dairy producer, Tony Lopes highly encourages others to sign up.
While many are planning the perfect Valentine’s Day, I’m sure my special day will be spent in a barn. I chuckle at the thought, especially considering that is indeed how I met my husband, Scott—in a cow barn.
In Wisconsin, Vir-Clar Farm has worked hard at building a positive, family-like culture on their Fond du Lac dairy, which includes implementing a ride-share program that is a win-win for their employees and the dairy.
Despite challenges, U.S. dairy exports set new volume and value records again in 2022. Export volume in 2022 reached an all-time high. Following suite, export value finished the year up 25% to $9.6 billion.
One standard measurement most dairies look at is the number of confirmed pregnancies in their herd. While preg checks often coincide with herd health days, more and more dairies have turned to blood-based pregnancy test.
Getting cows pregnant is vital to keeping the pipeline full. According to Jeremey Natzke of Wayside Dairy, a 35% plus pregnancy rate equates to an outstanding repro program and a number his dairy worked hard to achieve.
Young and exuberant, Katelyn Packard would say that everything kind of fell into place with her role and responsibilities as a sixth-generation dairy farmer in Manchester, Mich.
Krysta Harden shares her decades of participation with 4-H and program that has changed over the decades, with more than half now coming from suburban and urban areas.
My 15-year-old daughter, Cassie is going places simply because she is not afraid to roll up her sleeves and work harder than everyone else in the room – or on the farm.
While agriculture has traditionally been a male-dominated workplace, the gender gap is slowly improving. However, dairy industry leaders understand the strides need to be greater, as the gap still exists.
Since day one on the new CEO job with DMI, Barb O’Brien has gone into every conversation with her notepad and her ears open to what farmers have to say. “I want farmers to feel ownership of this program.”
Fueled by a pandemic, teachers are quitting at a higher rate. Thankfully Olivia Zurcher doesn’t add to that statistic. Born and raised on her family’s dairy farm, Zurcher combines her love for ag with teaching.
Maryland dairy farmer not only has a garden, she also has a garden to share. Visitors get more than an opportunity to pick flowers. They get to tour a dairy farm and be reminded of all the good that life has to offer.
Dairy Girl Fitness creator, Emily Shaw launched Dairy Girl Fitness, an online personal training and health community that has a growing social media following – as women desire to get fit and healthy.
Named IDFA 2022 Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year, the Hildebrand’s have been at the forefront of innovation — from their processing plant to multifaceted industry partnerships to tapping into the A2 milk market.