Colorado’s dairy industry high-rolling for now

WINDSOR – Les Hardesty knows that being successful in the dairy business means hard work in a profession that goes far beyond the 8-to-5 routine.

“It requires a lot of investment and it’s obviously 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” he said. “It’s an intense way to make a living.”

But Hardesty, 51 and the father of three teenagers, wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s a great place to raise a family,” he said of the family farm. “They see the entire lifecycle from birth to death and they understand life a little better.”

Hardesty, chair…