September 5, 2017 at 3:32 p.m.
Women in Jeans: Cari Knapp
Tell us about your farm. We milk 100 registered Jerseys in a 95-cow tiestall barn. We rent land for our corn silage and rent some hay ground. We purchase our milk cow hay and all other feed stuffs. We raise all our heifer calves. We sell most of the bull calves at birth, but keep two groups a year to sell as breeding bulls. I do most of the AI work, while my husband mates the cows. We work together on herd health. Since Jerseys are prone to milk fever, I do the IVing, but we have implemented Bovicalc boluses and they have helped a ton. Our herd is older on average with our oldest cows reaching 13 years of age. Longevity is one strong point in our herd. Our motto is to dot our Is and cross all our Ts before we head to the house each night. In other words, the cows are all happy before we head to the house at night.
What's the busiest time of day for you? After Kevin leaves in the morning at 7:00 on the bus route, I have to get everything finished up so I can go get our children on the bus. Evening chores are from 4 to 8 p.m. so we can get to the house for homework and supper.
How much time do you spend doing farm work compared to housework? Seven to eight hours a day just doing daily chores. Some days, when we do major projects such as clean calf barns, do vet checks, grind feed, vaccinate and dehorn, I will spend one to four more hours outside. On a normal day, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. I will take time for dishes and keeping house.
What do you do in your free-time and why? I love to read books because I can relax and my mind has time to forget the daily grind.
What's the best thing about farming? Seeing our children claim each calf or cow as their own and sharing the love Kevin and I have for our livelihood makes each day worthwhile. Our kids are a big part of our life and when the weather is fit they are at our sides working through each day. We also enjoy the flexibility of being our own boss and our ability to have a day to go if we choose.
When you look back on your life, what do you want to be remembered for? Being a loving mother, wife and a good Christian who worked hard and loved working alongside her husband to make a living and caring for our family and our animals.
Do you have any ideas that could make farming easier for you and all farming women? Just understanding what it takes to keep the farm running and working with your spouse in good times and in bad. They need our daily support.
How do you and/or your family reach out to consumers and the community to spread the word about dairy products and dairy farming? We encourage all to consume our products. When we see a person in the store with milk in their shopping cart, we thank them. We also work each summer serving ice cream at our local fair.[[In-content Ad]]
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