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 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. 

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