Dairy farming isn’t easy…..

Friday, June 6th, 2014

Being a dairy farmer means working long days that start before the sun rises and don’t end until well after the sun sets. Dairy farming isn’t easy.

Being a dairy farmer means staying up all night waiting for the first calf heifer to calve, and then having to help her in order to save her and her calf’s lives. Dairy farming isn’t easy.

Being a dairy farmer means knowing when a cow is sick, in heat or has mastitis. Dairy farming isn’t easy.

Being a dairy farmer means being able to balance a ration, a checkbook and crop rotations. Dairy farming isn’t easy.

Being a dairy farmer means being able to make a halter or gate latch or just about anything with baler twine. Dairy farming isn’t easy.

Being a dairy farmer means watching your prized cow flair up with mastitis and almost die and there is nothing you can do about it. Dairy farming isn’t easy.

Being a dairy farmer means having to get waist deep in the manure to clear a jammed stable cleaner. Dairy farming isn’t easy.

Being a dairy farmer means risking losing everything you own in a fire or natural disaster. Dairy farming isn’t easy.

Being a dairy farmer means no lavish parties or long vacations to fancy resorts. Dairy farming isn’t easy.

But….

Being a dairy farmer is all worth it when you see the look in your child’s eyes the first time they see a calf being born.

Being a dairy farmer is all worth it when you get that very good two year old after you have spent many generations of corrective mating to get her.

Being a dairy farmer is all worth it when you see that 7 year old cow calve for the 5^th time, attending to her newborn calf.

Being a dairy farmer is all worth it when you hear your children tell you that they want to dedicate their lives to providing safe and nutritious dairy products to feed a growing world.

Being a dairy farmer is all worth it when you watch your children grow up on the farm and learn the values that you hold so close to your heart.