![Dairy milking parlor](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/LOD_parlor-crpd.jpg?itok=sjBCExMv)
The environment and management of your parlor play critical roles in ensuring it is efficient, productive and profitable.
![Two educators and a mom with girl and boy making muffins](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/NutritionWilmar-154.jpg?h=04715568&itok=tue-lqPa)
Extension educators help low-income Minnesotans find food security.
![beef cow](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/beef-cow.png?h=a4486994&itok=sibAFqyO)
Water is very important to all animals, as it is required for bodily functions like digestion and lactation. It is important that livestock get high quality water.
![Four calves with pink blankets on in a barn full of hay.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/Calves-with-blankets.jpg?h=59c49c74&itok=K-IQT3tm)
Winter presents extra challenges for raising calves in cold climates.
![Cover of the 4-H volunteer impact study](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/4-H%20volunteer%20impact%20study.jpg?h=a274e6af&itok=9SPbg7-l)
A new 4-H volunteer impact study shows the personal, organizational and community benefits of being a 4-H volunteer. Nearly 12,000 trained, caring adults volunteer to work with 69,000 4-H youth in Minnesota.
![4-H youth running in snow with snow shoes.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/mxfotos.com%2019-02-16-1-61.jpg?h=b6b84db7&itok=dtpIVF76)
Teenagers in 4-H enjoy all that Minnesota nature has to offer, even in the coldest of times.
![Snorkelers in the St. Croix river researching mussels.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/DSC_4317-2.jpg?h=d3241e78&itok=QUAqdeSY)
Master Naturalists make a difference by volunteering for nonprofits, state agencies, nature centers and University research programs. One project they are working on is researching native mussels.
![Crop field flooded with water](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/flood.jpg?h=f5452b69&itok=Zy2xffy9)
In April, Dean Bev Durgan formed the Extension Rural Stress Task Force to work with Greater Minnesota to address challenges faced by farmers and their communities.
![Field of rye crop](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/d1507-11%20cover%20crop%20rye%20Photo%20by%20Stephen%20Ausmus%20USDA%20ARS.jpg?h=3b1a70d6&itok=ArkjLmE5)
In a tough year for crops, Minnesota farmers are turning to cover crops with the help of Extension educators.
![CJ Holl visiting in Kristi Feist in her Wells, Minn. quilt shop. Quilts and fabrics are on the wall behind them.](/sites/extension.umn.edu/files/styles/crop_featured_image_crop/public/19-07-18%20WellsMN-%20mxfotos.com-11.jpg?h=350a7123&itok=-KgViZlB)
CJ Holl of Wells, Minn., makes award-winning smoked nuts that he sells online and in stores throughout southern Minnesota. He’s also a city administrator there, and has worked with University of Minnesota Extension to help keep all businesses strong.
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