A grateful good-bye

The first column I ever wrote for Dairy Star described my journey of becoming a farmer. From watching a neighboring dairy farm make hay in the field across the road when I was 12, to attending Short Course in Madison, to an internship learning to milk and then finally raising my family on a dairy farm. 

Since that first column, I’ve written about my family’s exit from milking cows. I have also shared some highlights from visiting farms and memories of my days in the barn. This is slated to be my last column for Dairy Star, since I will be moving on in my career to serve the dairy industry in a different way. For the last column, I wanted to say thank you to each farm who allowed me to tell their story in the past (almost) three years. 

Since that is over 600 interviews, I don’t have the space to thank you all individually. But rest assured, I remember you all. 

The first interview I ever conducted was a Dairy Profile in Tomah, just minutes from my home. The people were practically my neighbors, but my role as a journalist allowed me to connect with them. Since then, I have traveled from my home in Monroe County all the way up to Pierce County, as far east as Juneau County, and more recently expanded into Iowa. 

I will definitely never forget the time the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, held a press conference at a farm in Pierce County and I got to attend and report on the event. When the media invite came through my email, I initially wanted to chicken out. I thought I was out of my league. A quick pep talk from a friend made me realize that I’m in this league and I better figure out how to act like it. I was grateful that some fellow media professionals were also in attendance and we could stick together. 

There were several other times that the media credentials got me in to meet some influential folks, but what really warms my heart is all the times I was welcomed into a farm kitchen or a milk house to hear the stories of the dairy farmers who were still making a go of this life. 

After we sold our cows, sometimes it was hard to visit a farm that had multiple generations working together on a beautiful site. It felt like they were living my dream. I always hoped that they realized how lucky they were. 

I was recently at such a farm. A lot of times I record the interviews to ensure accuracy and when I listened back to this particular interview, there was a point where the grandpa was talking about how his dad had helped him get started and now he was helping his son. The whole time he was talking, the youngest grandchild was making gurgly baby noises. It was a beautiful 75-degree sunny day as we sat on the picnic table in their yard. How could I be anything but happy for them as the sixth generation was successfully raising his family there?

There were also a lot of times when I felt like my path crossed with just the right person, at exactly the right time. Last year, when we were making the decision to sell our cows, I was at a farm whose family had been shipping milk for 118 years. After the interview we were casually chatting, and the farmer was asking me about my family and farm. I shared with him that we were first generation and having a hard time, and strongly considering selling out. 

I felt so vulnerable when I shared that, because here was this guy on a farm that was over a century into its success. Instead of judging me or puffing up his chest, however, he just told me that farming has changed a lot in the last 15 years and he wouldn’t blame us one bit if we were to quit milking. It felt like permission from the universe and I will never forget how impactful that was for me. It helped me work through the emotions of making the hard decision.

I have kept a list of everyone I interviewed in my time here at Dairy Star and when I look at it, I feel like I have a list of friends. I hope that if I’ve been to your farm in the last three years you feel the same. And I hope you never hesitate to keep in touch and tell me your stories.