Using Your God Given Talents

This past weekend I had the privilege of milking cows and helping do chores for my brother while he went on a short weekend trip with his wife.  I had the opportunity to help my dad take care of their 120 cows, and it was a great weekend!  My brother was in the process of working on 4 cows before he left, to help them feel better.  On Friday night my dad was a little stressed over the thought of caring for these cows without my brother there, “never fear, I am here!” 

Saturday morning, after morning milking and chores, I dusted off my cow care and diagnostic skills and went to work.  Each cow got a thorough check up.  I used a stethoscope to check heart rate, respiration rate, and rumen movement (if their stomachs were moving).  I used a thermometer to check their temperatures, making sure we didn’t have cows with fevers.  I also sleeved up and palpated the cows that had just had baby calves, ladies you know what this is all about if you’ve ever been to the gynecologist.  2 of the 4 cows were doing just fine, the other 2 were doing only ok, but were going to need a little more work.  We don't accept anything less than excellent health for our cows.

Close up shot of my thermometer, this is the cow with a low grade fever (average temperature of a cow is about 101.5) yes we check temperatures rectally.

 

Felfie of me checking for rumen movement with my stethoscope.

After having a good look at their medical histories (yes, dairy farmers keep detailed records on their cows’ medical histories!) we came up with a plan of action for treatment.  One cow was treated with antibiotics because she had a low grade fever (sign of an infections) and her milk was discarded for the following milkings.  The other cow was not treated with antibiotics, but with probiotics, vitamins, and a little boost of sugar.  By Sunday night those 2 cows were doing so well.  There is nothing more gratifying that using my God given gifts and talents to treat and care for God’s precious creatures.  I take animal care very seriously, and believe they always deserve our very best.  Having the gifts and skills that I have from God, makes it even more important for me to put animal care first....not everyone can be a dairy farmer or dairy farmHer ;)  Prevention is always key on a dairy farm, but when we make sick animals feel better…the feeling of joy and pride is priceless J 

Never Marry a Dairy Farmer..ignored advice from a friend

A couple weekends ago, my dear friend wed her best friend.  As a gift to them, I wrote some thoughts on marrying a dairy farmer, as this friend once advised to avoid dairy farmers.  Turns out she ignored her own advice too!  So, here's some thoughts on the great gifts of dairy farmers!

Never Marry a Dairy Farmer

A wise friend once advised me, “Never marry a dairy farmer”. Apparently she thought that having been raised on a dairy farm I would have been observant enough to notice the amount of dedication required from a wife married to a dairy farmer when watching my parents. But….I missed the message and decided to follow my heart. I wanted to be with my best friend for the rest of my life, regardless of his profession. Contrary to the advice of my dear friend, there are some great advantages to being married to a dairy farmer!

Lo and behold, a few years later this very same friend decided to also ignore her own advice and today….she also married her dairy farmer!!!! She too will learn the joys and tribulations of being married to a man dedicated to his farm and cows. But more than anything, I believe she’s entering into a relationship that is stronger than any other married couple’s. For a farming husband and wife have a bond built to withstand anything that life, nature and the world can throw at it, that is if they continue to love and care for each other.

Dairy farmers have tender hearts, open and willing to care for the most fragile of God’s creation. They have a deep dedication to everything that they do in life. They have a willingness to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work required to see a project (or relationship) through. They never give up. They have an appreciation for the simple, precious moments in life; riding in the tractor together, sunsets bringing the cows home, milking/working together, enjoying a star-lit night in late summer, the smells of fresh rain on spring soils, and bringing in the fall harvest. There are so many great moments to share with each other both at the farm and in life.

Today I wish my dear friend and her special dairy farmer the very best! Together they will make a great team for life. I hope that they can find joy, discover the strength to get through the toughest times in life together, and have a love and bond that grows stronger through the years. May they realize humor on their journey and continue to make each other laugh. May they say to each other years from now, surrounded by family and friends on their 50th Anniversary, that they did indeed, “Marry their best friend” so many years ago.

God Bless You Both!

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Ready to leave 2009 behind!

I think I speak for a number of dairy farmers that I know....we are all ready to leave 2009 behind! It's been a rough 12 months in the dairy industry. We started 2009 knowing that we would be facing low/unprofitable milk prices, but none of us could predict that those low prices would persist for as long as they did.

This year tested even the hardiest farmer, not only with prices, but also with weather. The weather was cool, the growing season was poor, the winter 2008-2009 was long, and the harvest of 2009 was even longer and muddier. The stress tested every one's spirits and wills. The resilient survived, but those who didn't make it weren't bad farmers....just in bad circumstances. And lessons were learned. At Orange Patch Dairy, we learned a few good lessons that I thought I would share as well as our goals for 2010:

Lessons Learned from 2009

1. Always save for a rainy day-this was our saving grace this year. When times were good, we put away as much money as we could. That money helped pay bills that we didn't have enough cash flow to pay for.
2. Take a Vacation. Taking a break from the stress of the farm has no value. Time off to be with family and friends is invaluable...we know this is true.
3. Top notch care for our cows always comes first, no matter the cost! We worked the entire year making sure that we sacrificed nothing for the cows, but instead spent less on ourselves. Our cows' care always comes first on our dairy farm, they are loved greatly.
4. Keep doing what you do best. We know we take good care of our cows-we worked all of 2009 to continue doing that, and making the best care even better.
5. Breathe-find JOY in the small things. If we couldn't have financial success in 2009, we had small successes: a new born heifer calf, a healthy cow, a beautiful sunset, all of God's great blessings.

Goals for 2010

1. Improve our cow facilities: We have comfortable barns now, but we know we can make improvements to make them better. Now that we will hopefully be producing milk for a profit we hope to return those profits to new renovations this year. I also hope to post those renovations on this blog.
2. Continue to find JOY. How could we not take this goal from 2009 with us?!?!
3. Continue to improve cow and calf health. There is always room for improvement here. I look forward to a day when we have facilities that will provide environments for our animals that prevent disease so we don't have to treat disease. Our barns are good but there's always room for more fans, better heating, more feed space, etc.
4. Milk more cows. I don't want to milk more cows for more money but because I love all of my cows so much, I can't bear to part with them or their kids. We hope to milk about 110 cows the full year through. That's enough cows for me though, any others will need to be sent to good homes on other dairy farms.

All of these goals and aspirations we look to on a daily basis, helping us make good decisions working towards our goals. Orange Patch Dairy looks at 2009 as a learning experience, and at 2010 as an opportunity to do better. As they say in 4-H " To Make the Best Better"