Meet MI Farmers at Curry Farms

Curry Farms with Karen Curry

"Curry Farms was established in 1868 by my husband Mark’s Great-Great Grandfather Isaiah Thomas Curry.  The dairy cows were not brought in until 1938.  At this time Mark’s grandfather, Waldo James Curry, purchased 12 dairy cows.  We now have the existing facilities at their max with 220 dairy cows and 185 young-stock. 

(Curry Farms, Tawas City, Mi.  Photo Credit: Karen Curry)

Dairy farming gets into your senses.  You see things, hear things, smell things, touch things, and taste things that most will never be able to comprehend in their lifetime.  For example, your eyes light up when you see a newborn calf stand for the first time, your eyes hurt when you come to the barn and find a cow down with a broken leg.  You get excited with the sound of spring  rain, your hearing haunts you with the  shriek of an animal in pain.  Most farmers love the smell of fresh alfalfa and corn silage, the manure pit is a smell that most do not enjoy but it is a commodity that must be dealt with.  Farmers are known to work with their hands.  They touch everything, but the sweetest touch is from their loved ones when work is done at the end of the day.  We have all tasted defeat at one time or another but tasting the sweat from our brow encourages us to battle on.  Many life lessons are learned from a farm.

(Photo Credit: Karen Curry)

Agriculture is not for everyone.  We all know someone who grew up on a farm and as quick as they could, they moved away.  And that is OK.  To be a successful farmer, you have to love it.  You have to love getting up early and seeing the sky filled with stars.  You have to love pushing yourself to physical exhaustion because you know that you have to.  And at the end of the day, you are able to finish your day with the most beautiful sunsets. 

(Curry Farm milking parlor. Photo Credit: Karen Curry)

We can talk about the daily tasks of feeding, breeding, treating, and  vaccinating animals.  We could also go on and on about planting corn, harvesting 4 cuttings of alfalfa, baling hay, harvesting oats, baling straw, harvesting corn silage, combining high moisture corn, applying manure to the fields, fieldwork to get the soil ready to be planted, maintaining buildings and milking parlors, working on broken equipment at the shop,  farm business book keeping, meetings with cow nutritionists, meetings with accountants and ordering parts and supplies from the salespeople that stop out on a regular basis, but who wants to hear about all that? With all that there is to do, how do we have time to do anything fun?  Well, farmers have to be experts in time management.  Family vacations are short and to the point, but they are getaways nonetheless.  There are unexpected things that arise and make us unable to attend functions.  Our families are well aware of this. 

(Photo Credit; Karen Curry)

Mark and his brothers are the 5^th generation to uphold the family tradition of farming here in Tawas.  Each generation has put his own stamp to the business.  This is why you see outdated buildings on a generational farm.  Every demolition, every addition, every new piece of cement poured holds a story.  Stories that aren’t always told, but should be. Here is to hoping that the American Farmer can keep the respect of this nation while diligently working to provide for it."                      

(Photo Credit: Karen Curry)

- I would like to thank Mark and Karen Curry for taking the time to share their farm story.