Don't give up on small dairies

Don't give up on small dairies. You've heard it, so believe me when I say the last year has been incredibly difficult for ALL dairy farms. We just experience the struggles differently based on generation, size and manpower. Dairy farming is a way of life and for many families it has been the way of life for years and years and years. Thank you. Thank you to the children who have chosen to stay on the farm and take it over caringly. Year by year battling the hardships and pushing through to see the family farm continues. 97% of farms are family owned. Every year they grow and they invest in land or equipment or buildings and cattle.

But when the family farm begins most times it is small. The equipment is old, the herd is young and the debt is hefty. What would you say to that farmer with just 7 years under her belt? What would you tell her when she asked, "is there still a place in this business for a small farm?" Because she hasn't been through this before and all she sees are established farms feeling the stress or getting bigger. How would you follow up the response when you notice the tears in her eyes listening to someone say "small farms are going to get pushed out"?

After a year of dealing with "milk surplus" and our income being reduced well beyond what is feasible, I cannot help but wonder when is enough? How many cows do you HAVE to milk?

I am not my husband. He started this business because he does not easily accept no. I am the wife who supported his idea. I am the mom who has gotten attached to being home with her kids and taking care of her animals. I am the farmer who knows the needs of her cattle and of her children and knows if she expands right now something has to give. So when someone tells me they just aren't sure a small farm will make it, it gets me down. I have reasons why I want to stay a small farm. And yes, I know that it takes the milk hauler A LOT more stops to fill his truck BUT he will also get a lot more holiday treats this Christmas.

I ask that you not give up on the small dairy farm. I ask those that can't even define a "small dairy" today to remember the majority of farms are less than 200 milking. And I ask consumers to continue adding dairy in your diet because waking up early and working long days, weekend and holidays is a lot easier to do when people appreciate and need the product.

-Farm on, Nicole

Raw Milk in Michigan

Did you know in Michigan it is illegal for me to sell raw milk? Sure is; I could lose my Grade A license which allows me to sell my product to a cooperative. Over the last few years I have received more and more questions about selling or trading milk from my farm, but the answer is always no. There is a lot of chatter whether or not raw milk is better for you or taste different but to tell you the truth my kids and I have NEVER tried the milk from our cows. It's a personal choice but my husband drinks milk from the cows and so far he seems fine.

The sale of raw milk from me is illegal here in Michigan but you do have the option for cowshares. Cowshares would include entering into a contract with a farmer and paying them to harvest the milk for you. An annual payment would give you ownership in a cow and pay for her spot on their farm. A monthly payment would help the farmer feed your cow and cover the labor for them to give you 'X' amount of milk a month. This is legal because you assume ownership of the cow, and removes the farmer from selling a product you could become sick from.

Another option you have for raw milk is to have your own cow that you milk yourself. This would come with financial responsibility and the expense of your own labor to feed and care for the animal, but if you have the acreage and shelter it may be something you'll consider. Some things to keep in mind are that cattle do not produce milk until they have delivered their first calf. You will want to purchase a cow that is in milk and possibly even confirmed pregnant, that way you get milk immediately and can continue getting milk after the calf is born. There will be a period before the calf is born that you need to stop milking the cow... So maybe your homestead will have two cows 😉

There are a lot of pro's and con's to the argument of raw milk and the great thing is that it's your choice to make. I choose to buy my milk from the grocery store because it is what I'm comfortable with. Milk on the store shelves comes from Michigan dairy farms and it travels from farm to fridge in 48 hours. That's pretty darn fresh. At processing plants milk is pasteurized (required by law) and homogenized, bottled and labeled. Thank goodness for our milk haulers and truck drivers who mooo-ve the goods!!

I hope everyone continues to keep dairy in their diet, regardless of where you get it from. Who knows, maybe the law will change in the next several years or maybe I'll start branding my own milk like these Michigan families (check them out).

Welcome to Moo-ville

Shetler Family Dairy

Moomers

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.

Meet MI Farmers at LMN Dairy

LMN Dairy with Melissa Guoan



"Our current farm is owned by my husband and I, it was established by his parents in 1978.  We milk 200 cows including dry cows, altogether on the farm we have over 400 head from calves to cows.  Agriculture is a way of life for my family.  It is my passion to take care of my animals and produce the best quality milk that is high in butterfat and proteins.  Agriculture feeds the world and I love being a part of that, and being a girl makes it that much better because I can show that not only guys are farmers.  

Sometimes I struggle with being too attached to my animals.  This is a hard part of the industry for me because people might not understand our passion for what we do and claim that we don't take care of our animals.  Our animals are treated better than we treat ourselves most of the time.  I work with my girls 24/7 and they all have their own personalities.  When it comes time to cull my herd it is very hard for me to do.  

*To cull within your herd means selling an animal.  Farmers have different reasons for culling depending on how they operate their business.

I want consumers to know how hard we work to produce the products that we do.  I want them to know the struggles that we endure and the obstacles we have to face to continue the farming traditions.  I think everyone should spend at least a couple of days on farm job shadowing, to realize just what goes on behind the scenes.  I think a lot of people would be surprised, in a good way.  I've learned that you can NEVER take anything too serious!  Try your best to laugh everything off because if you take it all to heart you will be VERY disappointed in your farming career.  Learn to laugh....a lot, because sometimes that is the only thing you can do.  

We usually show up late to wedding receptions and birthday parties (and I pray they keep the food out because a cold dinner is better than no dinner).  I usually don't go out with friends very often because I have to get up early to do chores.  And my son misses out on a lot of things too because we have to chop hay or work fields, etc.  I do feel bad sometimes, like I fail at being a good mother because I can't take him to activities and things that he wants to go see or do.  My family is affected a lot but my goals are to pay everything off and farm for the fun of it.  I want to farm because it is something I enjoy, not because of the pressure to pay this or that.  Once I have everything paid off I want to milk around 100 cows and run a little greenhouse of my own."

- I would like to thank Nathan and Melissa Guoan for taking the time to share their farm story.

Meet MI Farmers at Bigney Dairy

Bigney Dairy with Judy Bigney

"I feed approximately 30-35 heifers each evening and twice on Wednesdays and weekends, I am also the township clerk for our community.  My husband and 19 year old son milk twice per day.  We have a small family farm (with no employees other than family) and milk between 40-45 cows; counting all the calves, heifers, and one bull, we care for approximately 80 head of cattle.  Our dairy farm has been in my husband's family for 150 years started by his great-grandfather.  My 86 year old father-in-law still helps with all the field work and feeds the heifers on mornings when I am at work.  But, I think our farm days are numbered.  We are located in an area that has been experiencing residential growth and we rent most of the ground we grow crops on to feed the cows.  The ground we rent is slowly being used up for housing.  Our younger son would like to continue to farm and I would like him to buy a farm somewhere else, somewhere more rural.  

Watching my husband, father in law and son work so hard and never get paid what they deserve is the hardest part of this industry for me.  It is very hard to see my family break their bodies doing something we all need but not get paid for.  Farmers are people just like all consumers; they want good healthy food to eat and they care about the animals they raise.  

In farming, patience is the greatest lesson I have learned.  If you don't have patience on a  farm you will literally drive yourself insane.  And there's good and bad with farming.  We have more freedom at times to run about, that is if the chores are done and it's not planting, haying or harvesting season.  But there are no family vacations.  It always seems just when you plan on going to a family reunion, Christmas party, birthday party or something, a piece of farm equipment or tractor breaks down or the cows get out so you can't go.  But, there are so many good things too.  Like the day my five year old son caught a baby kill deer bird in the pasture, watching my two boys grow up with their cousins playing in the farm creek and the baby calves....they're always so cute!"

- I would like to thank Bob and Judy Bigney for sharing their farm story. 

Meet MI Farmers at Emerald Acres

Emerald Acres with Caroline Clough

“We operate a small dairy farm.  When we bought the farm in 2012 we had all the machinery that we needed we were just purchasing the land, buildings and some animals from my husband’s parents.  We started with 20 cows in a 20 stall stanchion barn with two milkers and two pails.  We milked two cows with one milker then dumped the milk into pails which we would then carry to the milk house.

Each cow is milked in a stall - Photo by: Caroline Clough

 In the milk house we would dump the milk through a strainer where then it would go into the bulk tank to cool.  In 2014 we bought two more milkers and two more pails.  We planned on adding on to the barn and the herd, which we did a year later.  We added 22 cows to the herd and we were working on an addition to the barn to house the new cows, in the meantime we had to switch groups of cows while we milked.  Three months after we added the cows the barn was finished and we were able to milk all of our cows in their own stalls without having to switch them.  In the summer of 2015 there was a little falling out between my husband and his dad leaving myself (7 months pregnant) and my husband to do all of the chores.  We were still milking with four milkers and four pails, carrying pails after every two cows.  I couldn’t keep up anymore so we cut back to only using three milkers and eventually got a step saver/milk conveyor (basically a portable receiving jar).

Milk from the cows is dumped into the step savor which filters and pumps
the milk to the bulk tank, eliminating the extra step of carrying each pail
into the milk house. - Photo by: Caroline Clough

 We also had to sell 10 cows to handle everything without it being too much for just the two of us.  Now we milk 30 cows with three milkers and a step saver, the step savor makes it so we don’t have to dump our milk into pails and carry it to the bulk tank.  We just dump our milk from the milkers to the step savor and that filters our milk and the pump then pumps our milk to the tank.  We are currently caring for 50 animals total including our dry cows, heifers and calves.

With the way the milk prices are right now we are struggling with farming and it affects our family tremendously.  I am currently working one full time job and a part time job and my husband has recently started working with an oil company where he leaves for weeks at a time.  We have two children, a boy who is two and a half and a daughter who is 11 months.  While my husband is gone it is up to me, my father in law and brother in law to do chores.  Luckily our kids are getting to ages where they can be with us on the farm and our family helps out a lot with them when we are doing work they are too young for.

Cows have room in their stalls to stand and lay down. - Photo by: Caroline Clough

My husband wanted to farm the way they did back in the 50’s and 60’s.  He wanted to milk in a stanchion barn which is why when we made the addition to our barn we added more stanchions.  He wants to teach our children that farming is more than riding in tractors and cows being milked automatically.  We want to keep it this way to show people that there are still small family farms that have one on one contact with each cow rather than in a parlor, not that milking in parlors or robotics is bad.  Our goal for our business is to milk 40 cows and have farming be our only source of income, and we also hope that our children will want to take over the farm.”

-  I would like to thank Tyler and Caroline Clough for sharing their farm story.

Just a little farm tour

It's pretty simple. If you want to visit a farm just ask a farmer. When Stephanie asked to bring her three beautiful girls to our farm...of course I agreed. But first I had to mow, and weed-wack, and pick up the toys and clean up my garden.... I wasn't worried about the animals or parlor because we keep that clean all the time.

I may or may not be the best tour guide, but I had ice cream and figured that would get me on everyone's good side :)  I also had two babies born less than 18 hours before they arrived SO I was feeling confident things would go well. AND it did!! Not only did the kids ask to come back but they left with poop splatter on them, which is a pretty good indication they were up close and personal with my favorite ladies.

It started with the usual "Oh! It stinks..." which makes me smile every time we have company. It means this is NEW for them, something small that I've become numb to. I was introduced to Madalyn, Emily and Lillian (...and I got their names wrong every time). We met twins who were born this morning, a heifer (girl) and bull (boy). They even got to feed the calves their very first bottle of colostrum. Names were chosen and we have a Rosie & Patches in our herd.

Of course on the day of our tour it was 92°F out so after we looked at the calves in the hutches and walked down to the dry lot there was drinking from the garden hose. (Something their mother did as a kid but they were skeptic about trying.) Not only was this tour a learning experience for them but it was a reminder to me that what I do daily is important and special and to enjoy it.        

 

By the time we made it to the parlor the cows were being milked. The girls were able to hand squirt milk from the cow and help bring cows in from the holding pen.

 

Below are some of the questions & answers we talked about today. If you'd like to see more of our every day farm life follow along on Facebook or Instagram @michiganfarmgirl.

Do calves have teeth?
Yes, calves are born with bottom teeth and develop more as they grow.

How long does a cow carry a calf?

9 months and they have heat cycles every 3 weeks until they are bred.

What do they eat?
Calves get milk, water and grain from birth to 2 months.
Heifers and dry cows get grain, dry hay and water.
Cows get "cow chow" or "casserole" or "TMR" (name depends on the tour guides vocabulary), a mix of haylage, grains, vitamins, soybean.

Does it hurt the cow to milk?
No, their bodies produce milk and if we don't express the milk they may feel more discomfort from that.

Why is your front door glass broken?
That is what happens when I mow grass :(

There were a lot more things discussed BUT I had two questions for my guest: 1) do the hutches look big enough for the calves to live in? 2) do the cows look happy? The answer to BOTH was yes.

At the end of two hours I was EXHAUSTED because I never talk that much, BUT I hope it was a good experience for them. And if it became a yearly thing that would be awesome, they would be able to see how things change; because every day here is different.

#happyfarmer

The kind of farm wife I am

I'm the kind of farm wife that sees a green tractor without a cab, not a JD4020.

I'm the kind of farm wife that says we have a cool glass jar the milk goes through before it pumps into the tank, not a glass receiving jar.

I'm the kind of farm wife that makes hamburger helper, not casserole.

I'm the kind of farm wife who names her cows and their calves and can tell you their dams and grand-dams, not what they score on a body chart.

I'm the kind of farm wife who yells at her farmer when he is being a jerk and yells at her kids when they won't listen. I don't keep up on the laundry, I don't mop or clean windows or bake pies.

I'm the kind of farm wife who will bring her husband a beer and tell him to take a day off. I will schedule myself more days than I can handle and eventually hit a wall and break down.

I'm the kind of farm wife who drags her feet on Saturday morning milkings because it's quiet in the barn and as soon as I step inside the house the real work begins.

I may not be the kind of farm wife he wanted.

I may not be the kind of farm wife I expected myself to be.

But I jumped into this and WE jumped into this. And days are long and kids really dirty a lot of laundry. And we just aren't to the day yet when I feel organized and planned. And I don't know if that day will ever come. And you know.... I don't think I will ever care that the tractor has a number. 

I'm may just need to be good with the kind of farm wife I am.

It's more, much more than this

Sometimes I wish I would have known more about being a dairy farmer before I agreed to this life. I was ready for the early mornings and long days, the missed family functions and rare vacations. But I was not prepared for the "fine print". I had no idea how little control I would have over my own business. I didn't know that having incredible work ethic and dedication could leave you feeling so defeated and exhausted at the end of the day with almost nothing to show for the work you put in.

I wish someone would have told me that the early mornings and long days don't end. When you cannot afford hired labor or someone is sick the work load is still the same and you stretch yourself thin. That you won't realize how fast 40 hours go by and it's Wednesday. That it doesn't matter that it's Wednesday because your next day off is a rainy day. And rain days don't mean no work just less work.

I wish someone would have told me that I needed to care about the weather. That my schedule would come in second to mother nature. That my hands would callous, I would actually wear out a pair of boots and say good-bye to the baby sitter with manure on my face. My savings account would be in land and buildings not in a bank account. I wish someone would have told me that it's more about heart, taking risk and intuition than following a business plan on paper.

Truth is, if I had the choice again and knew all of this I'd still do it. Just do it differently. I'd be more patient.

Truth is, it's a give and take life. You take the good with the bad, hold on and hope you're stronger than you assume.

Truth is, if being honest sound a lot like whining than I'm a big BIG whiner.

And the truth is this. Those early mornings show you the best part of the day. That you will see more shooting stars than you can wish on (but you better try) and the sunrises you see will stop you in your tracks. That those week long vacations you will be missing out on can't compare to the daily life you share with your family working beside you and you will put more love and attention and effort into tailgate dinners than you would running around a foreign city.

AND like any small business owner you face the risk of losing it all BUT the rewards you get in the end...are all yours.

If you'd like to see more about my family and our farm follow on Facebook or Instagram @michiganfarmgirl

Have passion

A friend of mine from high school commented a while back that it is hard to believe I am now a farmer. I would have to agree. But, I love being a dairy farmer. I never EVER would have predicted this would be my life or that I would feel so "passionate" about it.

Having your own business takes a lot out of you. It puts a lot of strain on your relationships. And when you feel like you are failing you need to rely on something. I have to be passionate about this life. I have to acknowledge and appreciate the love, dedication and hard work that we put in every day.

When I started farming I had absolutely no idea about anything. I had never touched a cow, owned a pair of rubber boots or fed a baby calf. It isn't just about having a few cows, squirting some milk and bringing in the dough. 

It's being 34 weeks pregnant and my husband had the flu and I milked the cows by myself. It's a business that doesn't close its doors when the owner is ill.
It's working two jobs off the farm and my daughter was at daycare for 11 hours because my husband was running the farm alone. So many of her milestones were witnessed by everyone except her parents.

Its friends who don't invite us out anymore because for years we just couldn't find the time (or energy). The wedding receptions we show up to when the food is put away (thank goodness for family members who save us a plate). And it's when my kids haven't seen their dad in a week because he is out in the fields.

If you own your own business these are the sacrifices that come with it. This is the choice we make.
So right now, when business isn't so good and every day I go out to the barn I lose a little more. Right now when I refuse to cut corners on cow feed or comfort but tell my family no to eating out. Right now it is passion keeping us going. Farm on.