With the exception of weekends and vacation days, I get up at 6 AM (ok, the alarm goes off at 6, I get up at 6:30), put my children on their respective school buses at 7 and 11, clean my house a little, and go off to work. Once I am there, I am greeted by 64 beautiful black and white faces, as well as a host of babies ranging in age from newborn to about six months old. I turn on the wash cycle, then return to those faces to clean their platforms and get my shift in their home going.
I work at my family dairy farm, and it is the best job I have ever had! I have been a news reporter, copy editor and graphic designer. I still do some of that. But the best part of my day comes when I lace up my work boots, walk across a field to the farm, and shovel – yeah, THAT stuff.
The farm I go to six days a week is about 30 years old; but my family has been a part of the dairy industry for four generations! One of the great parts of being there is watching the fifth generation growing up, and into, this legacy. Between my brother’s family and mine, there are seven children, ranging in age from 21 years to four months old. Four of them show interest in the various areas of the farm. It is my fervent hope there will still be a farm for them to carry forward by the time my brother and I would be ready to pass it to them.
Our farm is quite small. We milk 64 cows. It is a tie stall operation, which means each cow has her own stall. They are let out into a pasture every morning for exercise while their stalls are cleaned and the bedding replaced. Interestingly, we bed them mainly with shredded paper! We get local newspapers, magazines, phone books and other recyclable paper; and my dad shreds it up in a bale shredder, which then blows the paper into the stalls. It is cleaner and much less dusty than sawdust, and more absorbent than straw. It is also endlessly amusing to smell the scent of perfume samples and find pieces of Maxim models under our girls! Cows have laid (and pooped!) on Heidi Klum…
Each cow has her own name. Typically her name starts with the same first initial as her mother. That way we can trace her family history in our minds while we are working. Our cows are registered, which means they have an official pedigree (like an AKC dog or thoroughbred horse). Some of our cows have a richer family history than we do! We not only know who their parents, grandparents and on were; we also know how much milk they made, the quality of the animal itself and the quality of the milk!
The cows are very used to their routine. Most know their names and which stall in the barn is theirs. It changes from time to time. Each cow has a little “vacation”, the time varies but is ideally around two months, where she is turned out to pasture and doesn’t milk. This happens just before she is about to have a calf. Once she calves, her milk returns and she goes back into the barn. Sometimes her stall is changed; but they usually catch on to their new digs quickly.
Like people, cows have different personalities and levels of intelligence. We have favorites, and not so favorites. We have good days, and bad. But everyone who works at our farm is there because they want to be. Because we love what we do. Because we realize it is an honor and a privilege to work as a family, side by side. Because we take pride in creating a high quality food product for the people in this country.
Well, we used to. The sentiment around the farm is changing. It’s not just an economical issue. It’s this growing feeling that the people in this country do not support us. The negativity and criticism about how we care for our animals and produce our milk. The age-old stigma that farmers are stupid and boring. The weight of this farm will soon be passed to the shoulders of my generation, and we are wondering if we want it. Not because we mind the work, not because we don’t enjoy what we do; but because we wonder if we will be the generation to watch government and society destroy the very thing that four generations of us have put our life’s blood into culturing, nurturing and improving. Who would want to watch that?
I think I will set all that aside for today. It is time to milk the cows. If you are interested, I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.
When I was 15, on the morning of our auction, my Dad asked me if I wanted to keep farming. I told him no and I knew at the time that was what I really wanted. It makes me sad now, but maybe I'm looking at the past too fondly. We owed a LOT of money to the feed mill and others as well. I loved growing up on a farm but couldn't see myself working 7 days a week. I get irritated when I have to work 6! Anyway, it's hard to think back to the day of the sale knowing there were tears behind my Dad's photogrey lenses of his glasses...
ReplyDeleteIt is a hard decision every child of a farm family must inevitably make. There are so many facets of farming and it takes such a high level of intelligence, hard work and dedication. We know this - and yet, after spending so much time and thought and energy there, we wonder if we have what it takes to make it off the farm! Nine times out of ten, we have MORE than "what it takes".
ReplyDeleteThe guilt that comes with choosing a life outside of the family business is HUGE - especially when your shoulders are the only ones left to carry it! But if it is not BURNED into your heart and soul, you should not attempt it. It is a job that you have to devote your heart and soul to in order to even have a chance at surviving at - you do yourself and your family a disservice to take it on and fail. Thank you for your words, Steve!