The farm staff, the animals, the equipment … we all became a family. All of us learning and growing together with the most amazing support from everyone we encountered. Our skill sets grew by leaps and bounds from guidance we received from everyone we came in contact with – our veterinarians, local equipment operators, mechanics, company representatives, retired farmers, random visitors, and the list goes on. We learned every single cow’s individual personality, quirks and pedigree. We sang and danced for them while we fed and cared for them – and above all, we loved every single one.
Farming is not easy. It is a lifestyle, and much like the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to run a farm. In our community, there are not many farms left. The pandemic hit hard and left its mark on agriculture as a whole. Getting supplies, staying staffed, protecting ourselves and selling our product was all hard, as it has been for the entire dairy industry. We also found ourselves dealing with two major challenges.
Water is a necessity for a dairy farm. Despite our efforts and large financial investment, over the last three years our water quality and availability has continued to degrade. Manure removal has also been an ongoing challenge. We are in need of a proper lagoon and, unfortunately, environmental factors demand a very expensive solution in addition to the rising cost of materials.
