Teaching the importance of consistency....

In a previous post I commented on some of the changes that we were making on the farm. One of the first changes was hiring our first employees. For the first couple weeks, things went really well. Jon and I both reaped the advantages of having extra help on the farm, but not too long after that we started to have some problems with one of our employees.
Dairy farming is a 24-7 job. Cows are always producing milk, and need constant attention. Cows crave consistency. Cows do not like changes. Cows expect to be milked everyday, twice a day. One of our employees missed that point. This employee decided that it would be okay if he didn't come to work, not once, not twice, but three different times in the past weeks. When you depend on someone to be there, and they don't show up, it's a huge let down. But on a dairy farm it has long lasting implications...this week was proof of this. Not only was Monday a complete disaster (we basically got cows milked, fed and bedded, but that was it, no extra projects for us), but we also had a mismatched schedule for the rest of the week. For example, today, I dried off cows that should have been dried off on Monday.
It's been easy for us to teach the importance of being dependable, responsible, and consistent to our other employee, but for the other, it was more than a challenge. We knew we would be at risk for employees that just might not care as much as we do about our cows, but we didn't think we would face it so soon.

We love our cows, and we expect our employee to care for them as well. In fact, we also expect them to get to know them by their names and personalities. We have a book/manual about cow behavior, we ask them to read. We also expect our employees to understand how much not only us, but our cows, depend on them to show up to work on time and do a good job. Without good employees we would not be able to provide our cows the care that they deserve. Needless to say, our truant employee put in his notice yesterday, before we could formally let him go. Our lesson was learned, and we will continue to work harder to teach our employees the importance of their roles in food production and cow care!

A Time to be Thankful

It's been a little while since I last posted, unfortunately I lost my Grandmother over a week ago, and was busy with the events that came with her passing.  But from the combination of this loss and the coming Holiday, I had some time to reflect on what I am truly thankful for....

In life, we enjoy the presence of some very special people.  People who help develop who we are. not through their directions or orders, but through their example.  My Grandmother was and is still that person in my life.  We hear that "you never know how important a person is until they are gone", but I know that my family was well aware of how important our Grandmother was when she was here.  This Thanksgiving we celebrate without her here, but at the same time we know her spirit is with us.  There are so many moments in my life that Grandma was there.

As a child, she would often babysit me and my siblings.  We looked forward to spending time with her, hearing her stories about cousins from far away, looking at her pictures, enjoying her delicious cookies (she was the best cook I will ever know!) and her hugs.   She would let us play as we wished, and if we accidentally broke something, she would forget it, as she was mostly happy that we were there with her. 

As a dairy farmer's wife, she knew all too well the struggles that would face me as I told her that I was planning to return home to farm with my husband, a few years ago.  She shared so much wisdom about making sure that we always remembered the most important things in life: God and family.  She shared how proud she was of me to be working so hard to produce a wholesome food for the people of the world.  Dairy farming is a noble profession, and she knew that.  I wasn't wasting my college education, I was working to do something great; she knew that.

She had faith and passion for her God.  Grandma was always praying for her kids, grand kids and friends.  If there was something in life we needed help with, we would ask Grandma to pray for us, and she always did.  Just knowing that she was praying offered us so much encouragement and confidence. She attended church almost everyday with my Grandpa.  She enjoyed 63 years of marriage and 92 years of life, surrounded by the people that loved her most.  She stood as a role model for all of us to be humble, modest, honest, prayerful, loving, caring, and responsible.  I can honestly say that there are so many lessons in life that I learned just from looking up to Grandma, and how she would have handled them.  I joked with my sisters last week, that we need to ask ourselves, "What would Grandma Do?" whenever we were challenged in life; hoping to become better people, more like her.  So this Thanksgiving, I am truly thankful to have known a person as wonderful as my Grandmother, she will be missed, but she will also always be with us....God Bless You Grandma!

Liberty also means Responsibility

I have always intended this blog to highlight the good work that dairy farmers do everyday for their animals and land.  I have never intended it to be a place for talk of politics, but today, while driving tractor and listening to the radio, I was prompted to include a little politics in my blog.  So here's my story...

Here in Minnesota our media has been filled with so many political ads!  Yesterday, in the mail, we received mailers about our Republican candidate for US House of Representative.  The flier was printed by the Minnesota DFL, and they reported that the Republican candidate had received thousands of tax payer dollars but, if elected, would vote to end government funding to the "poor" and "middle class".  After further inspection of the flier, I discovered that the tax payer dollars that this candidate received were from various Farm Programs for his farming enterprise.  Some of those same funds were distributed to our neighbors and my in laws.  This definitely was a shock to me, to see a simple fact found on the Internet to be skewed in such a way to portray a candidate as an abuser of the system.  I will definitely acknowledge that each political party is guilty of this practice, but that doesn't make it right.  Even more angering was to find out today on the radio, the millions, yes millions of dollars being pumped into the political machine built to confuse and persuade voters. 

As a voter, I take this liberty seriously!  We are so blessed to live in a country that give us a say in how our government operates.  I don't care what political party you vote for or with, but what I do care about is that you take time to seriously consider the responsibility that comes with the liberty of voting.  In my Agricultural Policy class in college we often talked about how ill informed the voters have been in the last few years, and how this has been accelerated through the media.  Instead of researching the issues, voters will vote based on the letter D or R behind a name, or even with the more popular commercials on TV.  As we draw nearer to the election in a few days, I ask each of you to take the time to review the issues that are important to you.  Please vote on those issues instead of voting on the R or the D.  Please take the time to consider issues that are important to you before you vote....and make the best decision for your communities, because voting carries a great responsibility with it, make wise decisions.

Word of the Week: Flexibility

Jon chopping soybean straw at sunset last week. (Check out our Facebook Page for more pictures!)

This week has been all about flexibility.  First, Thursday, we had a full schedule and we fulfilled most of that schedule.  I worked hard to continue washing away the dirt and crud of summer in the milking parlor.  Jon worked to prep the manure spreaders for hauling this weekend.  We finished those tasks, loaded 5 bull calves for the neighbor who buys them and raises them, and bred a heifer that was in heat.  We then found out that we had some unexpected visitors stopping in for a tour in a mere 20 minutes!!  WHOA! That's short notice!  I had left some supper cooking at home and had so many other things to do at home that night, how were we going to find the time to give a tour?!?!  Thankfully, my father in law stepped in to give the tour.  We gave a short demonstration of milking and the milking parlor for our friend from town and his Colombian exchange student.  The student, Juan, had so many great questions about the technology we use to milk cows.  How could I not spend some time with him, talking about how we provide nutritious milk for consumers?  I suppose we spent about 30 minutes with Juan and our friend.  It was great to share with Juan, how we care for our cows and our land as well.  Needless to say I didn't get the rest of my jobs done for the night. 

Then on Friday, Jon and I worked so hard to milk, feed and bed the cows.  Calves and heifers were fed.  I loaded up hay at my parents' house, drove it home and unloaded it.  Jon worked on more prep for the manure spreaders, and then we were finally able to start hauling manure.  We hauled 10 loads to our neighbor's field and had to stop for evening chores.  After completing calves and setting up the milking parlor, we loaded in the cows.  Apparently our cow Judas (named after the band not the apostle) needed to run into the parlor for milking tonight.  But instead of sprinting safely into the parlor, she slipped and fell in the holding pen.  She wasn't the smartest cow in the barn tonight, as she drug herself a few feet into the parlor.  This was a problem, because we wouldn't be able to help lift Judas with our usual equipment.  Jon had to use some special lifts from the farm shop.  While he gathered supplies, I chilled out with Judas, making sure she was comfortable.  Sometimes when cows slip and fall it takes a little time to get them back up, dairy farmers just have to be a little patient with them, and offer them a little help.  30 minutes later, Jon had Judas lifted up, standing on her own, and doing fine.  Our fear when cows fall, is that they may become injured.  Working quickly helps insure that injuries are minimal (sore muscles) instead of serious (broken bones or tore ligaments).  Judas didn't even show signs of a fall after milking tonight.  She felt so good, she tried to come back into the parlor for some more fun!  Silly cow!  Hopefully she learns that she should walk to the parlor instead of running next time.  Nevertheless, we were delayed from finishing milking on time, and since Judas was blocking half of the parlor, we could only milk at 1/2 speed for those 30 minutes.  If we had scheduled plans for our Friday night, we would have cancelled them, but we luckily had no plans. 

So often in the dairy industry flexibility is critical.  Cows need care 24 hours a day.  Sometimes they can handle themselves, but sometimes they need help.  I can remember times growing up at home, when my dad would have to miss a concert, a 4-H show or a church event because he needed to stay at home with a cow that was calving or had a piece of machinery break.  We grew to understand that Dad would have loved to be at our events, but he had a responsibility to his farm and his cows.  Now, I share that responsibility to my farm and my cows.  I know first hand how frustrating it can be to work so hard to finish chores so we can leave to an event, only to have something happen, turning our plans upside down!  But, at the end of the day, our cows come first.  Their care is our priority and our responsibility and we take that VERY seriously.  So....here' hoping that tomorrow will be a little more predicable and a little less random (but I am counting on something random to happen, like a new calf!).

Why do you farm?

I went to a great speaker yesterday at the Midwest Dairy Expo. She inspired me to write this post. She posed a very thought provoking question to us in the audience.....

"Why do YOU farm?"

Hmm, I guarantee you that I don't farm because I enjoy working in the winter time. Today we had to wear over 4 layers of clothing just to go outside, shovel the snow before we could get into the barn, move the snow before we could get to the silage bags, and bed in everyone of the animals so they can stay warm and dry all day. Farming is hard. Not everyone can farm, but a number of smart people do farm. These farmers are smart enough that they could be excellent employees for any other company, but they run their own family business instead. When I left my job in January to come home and farm, I had 3 different jobs where I could work a 5 day week, making a sizable salary, but I chose to farm instead. Some would say that this would be an unwise choice, but it was the best choice for me-it just felt right.

I farm because I enjoy working with and in nature. I enjoy working with cows, one of the best creatures that God ever created. I enjoy the satisfaction of learning to do a new task, learning a new idea, starting a new project. I hope that some day that when Jon and I have children that we can use this farm to teach our kids how important life lessons like: respect for the environment, responsibility, strong work ethic, patience and passion. I farm, because at the end of the day I want be proud of the job that I did, the best possible job possible taking care of my cows and producing a tasty, wholesome, nutritious product for my family and yours.

Just so you know.....THAT'S WHY I FARM!