Kenzie hitting at a tournament in Milton

Kenzie has a strong swing at the plate and is able to bring in lots of runs.  It is key to eat right, drink lots of water, 8-9 hours of sleep, and maintain healthy relationships in order to be able to be a consistent, strong athlete.  Kenzie makes sure she drinks at least 3 glass of milk each day, includes protein, vegetables, fruits and beans in her healthy eating plan.  Kenzie also includes her workouts and her two rest days in her routine.

Photo # from Hayden Kyle | Pictage

Photo # from Hayden Kyle | Pictage

Respnding to "Got Milk" campaign about PMS!

I am a dairy producer in Wisconsin balancing many roles which include wife, mother of two kids, nutritionist, and an asst.librarian. As a dairy producer we pride ourselves on the consistent care of our animals 24/7. My husband and I are passionate about the daily routines we follow in making sure the healthiest product is produced for our family and for consumers.
I really enjoy the “Got Milk” ads and don’t find the most recent ads to be offensive. What happened to our sense of humor? I can’t imagine going through life and not being able to laugh and be sarcastic about any topic. I suppose it depends on the audience one is dealing with.
It is scientifically proven that milk contains a complete nutrient package of nine essential nutrients. In addition to being an excellent source of calcium and vitamin D, it is a good source of potassium, protein and vitamin A.
Consuming milk and milk products improves the overall nutrient density of the diet and is a marker of a high quality diet.
With essential nutrients including calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A, D and B12, riboflavin, and niacin (niacin equivalents), milk, cheese, and yogurt together pack a powerful nutrient punch!
I have two kids that enjoy chocolate milk as their power drink when they are done with a work out. It is critical that we have kids drinking milk as there is no other way to get the appropriate nutrients and vitamins.
We should be spending our time trying to find a cure for obesity and help parents that don’t take care of their children to better understand the importance of participating in their kids lives. Frankly, I need a good laugh once in a while.
I am a very strong, independent married woman that finds the humor in these ads.

Benefits of dairy in a healthy eating plan

Dairy products in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines¹
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) is a group of 13 experts who were charged with reviewing the strength of the science on a number of topics, including the role of dairy products in overall health. The Committee published its report in June 2010. The DGAC report served as the basis for the development of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Dairy products are among the top sources of calcium, potassium, and vitamin D, three of the four “nutrients of concern” in the American diet. A nutrient of concern is one that is not consumed in adequate amounts by a majority of children and adults.

¹2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report.
²2Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D.
³ 2010 Dietary Guidelines for American

Milk included in a healthy eating plan is critical - especially for children

Milk contains a complete nutrient package of nine essential nutrients. In addition to being an excellent source of calcium and vitamin D, it is a good source of potassium, protein and vitamin A.
Consuming milk and milk products improves the overall nutrient density of the diet and is a marker of a high quality diet.
With essential nutrients including calcium, potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins A, D and B₁₂, riboflavin, and niacin (niacin equivalents), milk, cheese, and yogurt together pack a powerful nutrient punch! 

Visit your local dairy farmer and observe the excellent care that the girls are getting.  There are many dairy farms in Wisconsin so it isn't difficult to accomplish this.  

Taking a look at the internal computer

Learning about the part of our brain that leaps to conclusions, which is called the adaptive unconscious.  I have always found it easy to quietly and quickly process a lot of data and function as a human being.  I believe that woman are definitely better at this then men, hence, that is why we are better at multi-tasking.  When I was on Elkhorn Area Rescue Squad as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), there was very little time to mull things over.  It seems that each day we face decisions that affect our lives, and we can either sit on a decision or make a quick decision.  I don't find decision-making to be difficult, in fact, I embrace the task of decision making.  It seems that the difficult situations don't scare me and I look forward to the adrenaline rush that it provides.  I believe that is why the life of a dairy farmer's wife has not been as overwhelming for me as it could of been.  Dairy farming is very cyclical, but there is nothing more rewarding then taking care of our girls, the land and providing consumers with the most economical, wholesome product that provides more nutrients then any other food on this earth!

Eating healthy is important! Dairy products are key in a healthy-eating plan!

I am a dairy producer in Wisconsin and a nutritionist. My husband and I produce wholesome quality milk and milk products on our 100-cow traditional dairy farm that we feel comfortable serving our own two children. We pride ourselves on cow comfort and consistency and confidentially know that consumers are getting an economically safe product that provides 9 essential vitamins and minerals that cannot be duplicated by any other product. It is important to remember that dairy products are the most highly-regulated foods in the industry and dairy farmers follow strict guidelines every day 24/7. We have many people that help us to ensure that our dairy animals are well taken care of. Just like moms take their children for well checks, we have a veterinarian at our dairy twice a month for well checks. We have a nutritionist that visits our dairy once a week to make sure the girl's diet is well-balanced and we also have a hoof trimmer that makes sure their feet are well taken care of, which is very similar to women getting pedicures. We only give our girls an antibiotic when it is absolutely necessary and we do not milk that individual cow in the tank until the cow tests negative for the antibiotic. If a dairy producer would include a cow in the tank that had antibiotics in their system the milk hauler would find it and the dairy producer would be financially responsible for the entire tank, which would have to be disposed of. It would financially ruin a producer to have to be a $10,000 tanker load of milk. Our girls are in a compost barn, which means that we combine manure and sawdust and it provides an amazingly soft bed when they lay down. We provide water tanks at each end of our open-air 72X186 foot dairy barn with "Big Ass Fans" that circulate air every day, even in the Wisconsin winters. Our girls are free to run on pasture when they feel like it and get plenty of exercise every day. Our nutritionist balances a healthy-eating plan for our girls which is mixed in a blender that includes hay, corn, cotton seed, bread, and protein that is easily absorbed by the cow's four stomachs. Our girls eat and drink their water right after they are milked twice a day and follow a pattern of laying down immediately after that. Whenever you see a cow laying down chewing their cud they are in the process of making milk. The dairy farmer in our house watches his girls very carefully and considers himself to be the "cow whisperer" of our county. Take the time to get to know a dairy farmer in your area and teach your children where their food comes from. Dairy producers pride themselves in being stewards of the land and shepherds of their animals. Look us up at www.nutritiouswisconsinmilk.com!

Meaning

Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt.  Meaning is something you build into your life.  You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to you, out of your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something.  The ingredients are there.  You are the only one who can put them together into that pattern that will be your life.  Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you.  If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account.

John Gardner

Reference:Lundin, Stephen, FISH!  Hyperion, New York, NY

One moment at a time

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."


John Lennon

Keep our heads held high and stick together!

Dairy producers find your own inner strength and join together to be positive and supportive and the support will come! T - E - A - M means together not separate!  We need to be working together for the cause!

:)

 

Helpful hint to monitoring healthy eating!

I find that if I write down what I eat each day and how I am feeling then  Ieat better.  I track my food intake and what emotions go along with the foods I choose.  Some days when I am feeling good I do have a tendency to choose healthier foods.  All of us do experience cravings at different times.  It does take time to write down the food and the emotions, but it is really worth it and you can find out a lot about  yourself this way.

Dairy Management Inc.

Jolene Griffin and Joe Bavido are visiting today.  Dave and I are looking forward to their visit and a chance to talk to them about what is going on in the social media world and how things are going at Kylecrest Holsteins LLC.  We really look forward to visiting with them. 

Getting ready for a media interview today

AllTech and our nutritionist, Scott Bascom, Phd., are headed to Kylecrest Holsteins LLC to do an interview with Dave and I.  Can't wait to talk about social media, great nutrition and healthy habits that we incorporate in our daily tasks that keep our girls healthy and strong.

Warm weather today in Wisconsin

Today is a day of heat and humidity and our number one priority is the girls.  At Kylecrest Holsteins LLC we make sure the girls have the sprinklers on them to get them wet and the Big Ass Fans are going in order to cool them off.  Dave delivered their fresh total-mixed-ration feed which includes hay, corn, and protein, early this morning after they were milked.  The girls will be monitored all day and another load of fresh feed will be delivered this afternoon when they are milked again.  We take great pride in providing the girls the care they need in order to be healthy. 

Weight Watchers Blog

To healthyguy2 Thanks for the positive and insightful comment. Those of us who have devoted our lives to production agriculture have had to become so good at what we do because there are fewer stewards of the land and animal caretakers then ever before. The population has increased tremendously, and it has made us fine tune what we do everyday in order to provide a healthy, wholesome product that we feed to our families and feel comfortable providing consumers the same quality as well. 

Introducing Dave and Laurie Kyle of Kylecrest Holsteins LLC

7/18/2011 11:55 AM
My husband and I and our teenage children are first-generation traditional dairy farmers in Wisconsin. My husband is a Madison graduate in Dairy Science and I am a people nutritionist/asst. librarian. We are passionate about the care we give our 100 Holstein girls 24/7. We are confident consuming the products we produce and know the consumer is getting the very best at an economical price. Dairy products are a critical part of a healthy eating plan. Get to know your local dairy producer. 

Read the article at this site:http://community.weightwatchers.com/Blogs/ViewPost.aspx?threadID=1441887

All Stressed Up With No Place To Go!

Remember, STRESS is our reaction to an event, NOT THE EVENT!

Where does my STRESS come from?

STOP

When you get ready to work on your stress, be certain that your cure works on your disease!

Idea # 1 - BREATHING!  Remember SLOW deep breaths
Idea # 2 - DEALING WITH MUSCLE TENSION  Stretching always helps. Try the turtle!
Idea # 3 - RELAXING REGULARLY  Check your environment and if you don't like it, create another.
Idea # 4 - THE POWER OF TOUCH   Most people in our society suffer from touch deprivation
Idea # 5 - FIND  BALANCE  IN YOUR LIFE  It is important to take time to smell the roses.
Idea # 6 - WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS,  TRY LAUGHTER

Open the farm to visitors

At Kylecrest Holsteins LLC we are proud of what we do every day.  Dave and I take every opportunity to share with our visitors what a day on the farm is like.  We want to share with every one how important it is to do a great job every day taking care of our animals.  Animal care is the number one goal at Kylecrest Holsteins LLC as we want the dairy products we produce to be of the highest quality for our farm and the consumer. 

Make your work environment fun! Go Fishing!

Be a fish and work hard to create a playful atmosphere at your work place!  Dave and I have found that working together as a married couple is difficult, but it brings great joy to our lives as well.  It is hard to keep everything going in a smooth direction sometimes, but I believe the bumps in the road and the detours are to make us stronger.  Dave and I have found that we have more energy when we create a playful, attentive environment that makes every one around us "catch" on to the ideas that we present! 

Cream in the iced coffee!

Introducing Starbucks VIA® Caramel Flavored Iced Coffee. Now you can enjoy a crisp, cold, naturally flavored iced coffee wherever summer takes you.
Using 100% natural roasted arabica beans, we created a blend of instant and microground coffee that is specially designed for mixing with cold water. Then we added just the right amount of buttery, velvety caramel flavor and pure cane sugar for the perfect balance of refreshment and sweetness.
It’s the sweet caramel coffee flavor you love, wherever and whenever you want it. But just like the summer weather, Starbucks VIA® Caramel Flavored Iced Coffee is only available for a limited time.

Try one of these!

Good friends and a very relaxing setting in the country

Enjoyed having a wonderful dinner at our friends home.  There is nothing more relaxing then sitting around eating homemade pizza and cupcakes. 

The view from the dinning room overlooked the southern valley of the Papenfus property on Springfield Road. 

The bean crop looks great, but the corn crop is leaning after the recent, rain and wind storm we had on Monday morning. We drove around and couldn't believe how bad some of the corn looks. 

Once there was a farmer!

and he loved a girl named Laurie!  The farmer would every day get up early in the morning and gather his cows. 

Brainstorming on the dairy

Dave and I recently have been re-thinking the way we are doing certain things and trying very hard to make Kylecrest Holsteins LLC a very user-friendly atmosphere for family and employees.  We are doing lots of reading and experimenting with some of our new ideas.  Our family members are asking more questions then ever and seem to be happy with some of the new methods we are using in the parlor.  We like the fact that everyone is asking more questions and feeling more like they are part of the operation!  It really helps to guide people to help them take ownership in all they do.

When selecting foods be careful

It is important to pick foods that are colorful and make good choices from each food group.  Don't let the temptations and so-called miracles entice you and damage your eating patterns.  Remember food executives are experts in talking people into eating products that are not healthy.  Healthy eating, fitness and moderation is the key to staying fit.

Pulling the trigger!

Wisconsin has just empowered each and every person in the state because it is legal to conceal and carry a weapon.  I hope the Governor knows what he is doing!  Hayden took a basic pistol class and that class counts towards the necessary training to be able to do this. 

The original recyclers

Dairy producers have a long and proud history of practicing environmental stewardship.  In fact, many have said that farmers are the original recyclers. At Kylecrest Holsteins LLC we combine cow manure and sawdust every day and till it inside the compost barn.  The cows are laying on a very comfortable soft surface. 

A friendly greeting

A friendly smile and nice greeting goes a long way.  We have lots of visitors at Kylecrest Holsteins LLC and people tell us that they love coming back because of the warm welcome they get when they visit.  Our 5-acre dairy farm is always pleasing to the eye and that goes a long way too.

Quality is important!

Every day at Kylecrest Holsteins LLC we pride ourselves on the quality of milk we produce.  Consistency is one of the most important aspects of a successful dairy.  Our family and employees share the philosophy of producing the best possible product.  It takes vigilance all the time and forward thinking that keeps a dairy in good standing and allows our customers to enjoy a healthy product that contains nine essential vitamins and minerals.  Get to know your local dairy farmer and find out where his milk is shipped. 

The real measure of a successful dairy

It's easy to judge a dairy operation during their successful peak time.  Almost any one can have an "on time", and the best way to analyze what is going on is to look what the dairy is doing during their most stressful time, and see how the dairy is fairing. 

Learned something important today about talking to the employees and finding out what they think!  Give the opportunity to let them have their voices heard as they "live in the trenches each day"!  It is important to remember that sometimes we are too far removed to understand what is going on.

My favorite coach always said that I could look good during my peak performances, but the important thing to look at was how did I lead the team through the trying times. 

As a dairy producer it is important to sustain excellence every day of the year.  In Wisconsin, when the weather goes from one extreme to another, it is hard to keep that pace up sometimes, but it is very important to remember that the consumer is number one!

Guest blogger on National Dairy Council's blog

Laurie Kyle and her husband Dave own and operate Kylecrest Holsteins LLC, a first-generation dairy farm in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. They milk 110 registered Holsteins three times a day.
Recently, Laurie completed her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Science and now uses that knowledge to help consumers make healthy food purchases, including dairy products. Laurie is able share this information through her blog, Nutritious Wisconsin Milk, and at various speaking presentations.
The Kyles are members of the National Dairy Farmer Spokesperson Network and have conducted numerous media interviews on behalf of the dairy industry.  Laurie has testified at the capital in Madison about dairy issues and was asked to participate in a Town Hall Challenge that questioned the governor and senate candidates on behalf of Wisconsin citizens.
Laurie  serves on the Walworth County Dairy Promotion Board, volunteers for the 4-H program and is a softball coach for a traveling league.For the past 22 years, Laurie has also served as a library assistant at Elkhorn Area High School.
She has two children, Hayden and Mackenzie.

Raking hay the old-fashioned way

Alex was raking the 90-acres of hay today.  We are in the process of making small bales of hay for the dairy animals.  Nothing smells better than fresh hay and the girls can't get enough.  It is too bad the seasons have to change in Wisconsin or we would have this great product all year around.  Thank goodness for summer hay!

Parlors are efficient

A specialized area on the dairy farm where the milking process is performed. Cows are brought into the parlor two or three times a day. Parlors come in many types and names, including flat barn, herringbone, parallel, swing, walk-through and rotary.

On Kylecrest Holsteins LLC we have a parallel parlor where six cows on each side come in and we milk 12 at a time.  It takes about 2 hours to milk our 100 cows.  

Coyotes are out and about

It is very important to keep the animals safe from predators.  Last night we heard the howling of the coyotes and Dave and Hayden decided to get dressed at 12:30 p.m. and see if they could find anything.  They could hear from a distance the howling of a pack of coyotes, but thankfully didn't see anything close to the baby calves or older cows.  No matter what time day or night, we are always looking out for the health and safety of our animals. 

Happy Summer!

Today would be a good day to put physical activity into the daily routine.  Add a 10-minute brisk walk to your day whether it means walking early in the morning when the birds are chirping, a walk during lunch or a walk later in the day when the sun isn't as hot.  Every step you take is one step closer to a healthy lifestyle.  Exercise is a great way to release endorphins in the body and it doesn't have any bad side effects.  Walking is very cost effective and the best part is that you can walk and the scenery changes and it reminds us that we need to be thankful for what we have around us.

 Enjoy Friday, July 1st, 2011!