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Shannon Seifert
Sleepy Eye, Minn.
Brown, County

Tell us about your family. I've been married to my husband, Jonathan, for six years.

Tell us about your farm. We care for 180 Holstein cows in partnership with Jonathan's parents and their 90 cows. Our cows are housed in a newly renovated pack barn and newly constructed sand-bedded freestall barn, and are milked in a double-12 parlor. We raise all of our own replacement animals. We also grow mostly forage crops for our cows.

What's the busiest time of day for you? Mornings. We're always buzzing around, working on milking, feeding cows, feeding calves, checking fresh/sick cows and just getting ready for the rest of the day.

How much time do you spend doing farm work compared to housework? I spend at least 85 percent of my time doing farm or farm-related work, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I thoroughly enjoy what I do everyday, caring for our cows and calves. Housework has never been something that interested me.

What do you do in your free time and why? I'm an avid gardener: flowers and vegetables. I really enjoy playing in the dirt. I also enjoy communicating with the public about my dairy farm and our cows. I spend a fair amount of my free time using social media to tell consumers about the great things dairy farmers do everyday. My blog can be found at orangepatchdairy.blogspot.com.

What's the best thing about farming? I love that at the end of the day, regardless if I made profit or not, I know that I gave my very best to my cows, and they will be ready to greet me in the morning with their smiling faces.

When you look back on your life, what do you want to be remembered for? I would like to be remembered as a woman who gave life her full effort, enjoying all of the simple things and challenging herself to do better and be better everyday.

Do you have any ideas that could make farming easier for you and all farming women? Free maid service for all farm wives![[In-content Ad]]

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