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 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.

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