We often talk about the challenges that come with farming (most recently not being able to control Mother Nature), but what about my favorite parts of the job? They say that if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life. I truly believe this.
One of my favorite things about farming is being able to work outside and working with the animals. Growing up I had a passion for the cows and the environment, and, being a dairy farmer, I get to be around my passions every day.
As I’ve had more experiences in the agriculture community, another one of my favorite things has been thinking about the whole picture of farming. Through my involvement with tours and working with different companies in food and retail service, I’ve really been able to see that we’re doing a really cool thing. We’re making milk that can be made into cheese that can be eaten at a meal or as a dessert. Our cheese could be in some other country, and it’s such a neat feeling knowing that the milk from our farm in rural Wisconsin could be in that cheese. That is something I didn’t think about 15 years ago.
I love that farming is always changing. There are new challenges every day and I am constantly learning. The challenge is often times going against something you can’t control, like Mother Nature or milk price. The best we can do is try to make the best decisions for our farms, our cows and our environment.
