LINN, Mo. — At the end of a gravel road, nestled in a valley in the rugged terrain of Osage County, Alfred Brandt’s family farmstead appears.

The farm was initially his dad’s grandparents’ place, and dairy has been a part of the family farming story for a long time.

DONAHUE, Iowa — Five generations of John Maxwell’s family have milked Jersey cows near this Scott County community.

And for the past 20 years, Maxwell has been sharing that story with the world.

After some tough years, the Missouri dairy industry is starting to see good news.

“I think we’re beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Joe Horner, University of Missouri Extension dairy and beef specialist. “Missouri dairy has been through a pretty dark tunnel the last few years.”

POCAHONTAS, Ill. — Operating a dairy is hard work, but it’s work Frank Doll loves. He also loves sharing the farm experience with others.

“Unless you’re a 3,000-cow dairy, you’re going to be out here all the time,” said Doll, who milks about 180 cows on his Bond County farm. “I still milk cows. I have a lot of employees, but they’re part time.”

COLUMBIA, Mo. — On a typical day on the University of Missouri’s Foremost Dairy Research Center, a farm donated by a famous retailer and named for a famous bull, students learn through hands-on experience, and researchers tackle key questions facing the industry.

“The two things we tend to focus on are reproduction and different levels of nutrition,” says John Denbigh, the research center’s superintendent.

PONTIAC, Ill. — This spring has brought ups and downs for Don Mackinson, a fourth-generation dairy farmer. Happily, milk prices are finally going up, but the rain keeps coming down.

“Milk prices are a little better with components and premiums right now,” said the central Illinois farmer.

Tariff issues have affected the dairy industry just like the rest of agriculture.

Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin, says retaliatory tariffs from Mexico hurt cheese sales into that country.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Monica Nyman is on the road this month talking to educators, doing live demonstrations on TV and attending a myriad of Midwest festivals to celebrate June as Dairy Month.

“Every day I’m in a different place,” said Nyman, a nutrition educator who has an office is in Bloomington and headquarters in St. Louis. Nyman covers 27 of the 131 counties served by the St. Louis District Dairy Council.