A farm love story

RUSHFORD, Minn. — After a conversation-filled first date to a Minnesota Twins game in July 2010, Steph Dahl felt good about her date, Josh.

“On my way home, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I could see myself spending the rest of my life with him,’” she said. “I knew what I wanted. … I had a feeling that he was the one, like I could totally marry him.”

Marriage, three kids and nearly 15 years together have proven her intuition correct.

The Dahls dairy farm together near Rushford with Josh’s brother, Jon, and three employees. They milk 300 cows and farm 500 acres.

The couple’s story started with each of the now spouses looking for love on FarmersOnly.com. Though Steph did not grow up on a farm she had hobby farmed with her first husband of 10 years before he passed away in a farming accident. When she was ready to date, FarmersOnly.com was the only online dating she tried.

“I’d never been on a dating website ever in my life,” Steph said. “When I found out about this one, I was like, ‘Yep, that’s what I want, because I knew I wanted a farmer.’”

For Josh, rarely leaving the farm meant online dating was a good option to meet people. The couple matched quickly. Josh had been on the platform a few months and Steph less than a month before they connected in May 2010.

The only complication was Steph was living four hours north of Josh in Pine City. Soon, Steph was driving down for weekends to help Josh farm.

“It wasn’t like we really went on dates,” Steph said. “My favorite memory is milking cows with him, riding in the tractor with him, feeding calves with him, just doing farm stuff. … We were just happy to be together. … The farm was our date.”

Well over a decade later, the pair are still farming together. Josh is in charge of day-to-day herd health, reproduction and milking. He also does fieldwork. Steph and the children feed calves and do calf health and help with fieldwork in the summer. Steph also homeschools the children.

The couple banter that part of the success of their marriage is buying Steph more Brown Swiss cows. The Dahls milk predominantly Holsteins as well as some Red & Whites, Brown Swiss, Jerseys, Milking Shorthorns, and Brown Swiss crossbreds. Last summer, when Steph was going through some health challenges, the couple said they joked that buying cows was going to solve those health issues.

“We bought a lot (of cows and heifers)” Steph said. “Finally, he said, ‘You know what? The medicine is going to have to kick in. I can’t buy you any more.’”

Steph appreciates Josh and his approach to life.

“He’s just got such a huge heart for me, for our kids, such a love of farming and the animals,” she said. “He’s really passionate about what he does. … It’s not just a job, every animal is special to him.”

Josh said he realized shortly after they met, that Steph’s commitment to living on a farm meant she could be the one.

“Her enthusiasm for wanting to be on a farm was obviously pretty big (for me),” he said. “It’s hard to find someone who understands that you just can’t go at the drop of a hat and wants to be around the animals.”

It is her kindness that Josh appreciates the most.

“She makes everyone who she knows feel like they are the most important person,” he said.

The Dahls try to get away from the farm and go camping with family twice a year. As far as spending time alone together, they said it is usually a trip to Fleet Farm or going on a date once a year to a concert at a local county fair.

Looking to the future of the farm, the Dahls are content. They recently finished some facility updates and like the place their farm is in. They hope to continue farming, and they dream eventually their children will take over the farm since their children have indicated interest in doing so.

“We’re hoping and praying that they still want to farm here when they’re old enough,” Steph said.

The couple said they work well together on the farm, and in life.

“We’re both pretty easy going,” Steph said. “We think a lot alike when it comes to the farm and what we want the future to look like.”

Josh agreed.

“We don’t get too high, we don’t get too low,” he said. “We stay pretty steady.”