Determined to dairy

CALEDONIA, Minn. — When 72-year-old Linda Betz walks into her classic, red, 50-stall tiestall barn, she is alone except for her dairy herd and a collection of barn cats.

Betz milks 14 cows on her 100-acre farm near Caledonia. Though she is working on her childhood farm, her journey as a dairy farmer has not been linear.

“You have to have faith and put your trust in God,” Betz said. “This place is my oasis from the rest of the world. I love the farm, I do. It’s always been my first love.”

In addition to the milking cows, Betz manages six dry cows and 10 breeding-age heifers. She said she would like to buy 10-12 cows this fall if she can afford it.

“I wish my barn was full,” Betz said. “If I had someone younger to help me, it would be full.”

Betz dreams of eventually farming alongside her 22-year-old nephew, Evan Seeger, who is interested in farming. Currently, Seeger is living and working near Fargo, North Dakota, but comes back to help and visit as he is able. In 2021, when Betz had both knees replaced, he ran the farm while she recovered.

Betz said her determination and stubbornness have helped her continue farming.

“I like what I do,” Betz said. “I’ve done off-farm jobs, and I hated them. I don’t like working with people. I’d rather work with animals. I’d rather be on a tractor and out in the field. I’m hoping eventually Evan will be here. We’re kindred spirits as far as the farm is concerned.”

The Betz family moved to the farm in 1937. They purchased it in 1947, paying $100 an acre. They raised pigs and milked cows. Betz grew up helping on the farm and continued to farm with her family after high school.

One of the biggest challenges of her farming career came in 1970, when her dad, Earl, had a stroke, leaving Betz, her brother, David, and her uncle, Dale, to operate the farm while he healed.

“My dad was a fighter,” Betz said. “When he came home, he couldn’t even walk by himself, and he couldn’t feed himself.”

He recovered and farmed again.

“My dad was very determined,” Betz said.

In 1985, her family quit dairy farming, and Betz spent the next 20-plus years milking 5-8 cows, raising bull calves and working on other farms.

In 2007, Betz and her brother, Mike, decided to revive the dairy again. Betz had five cows and five springing heifers, and they purchased 17 cows from a neighbor at just above the cull-cow price.

“They weren’t bad cows, but they had too many,” Betz said. “They picked some out to cull (group), and we didn’t pay a lot for them.”

The pair replaced the stalls, which were rusting out, and put in a pipeline.

The partnership was short-lived. Two years later, her dad passed away, the 2009 milk prices dropped and her brother decided he wanted to quit dairy farming. Mike wanted to have an auction.

“I said, ‘No, I can’t do that. I don’t want to go back to what I was doing,’” Betz said. “I kept the cows.”

In the following years, Betz received help from family and high school students. Today, though her help has slowly dried up, Betz continues. She said she encourages young people interested in dairy farming to be persistent.

“There’s always a way, if you really want to do it,” Betz said. “You can always figure something out. You have to be determined. I’m doing it because it’s what I’ve always done.”

Betz starts her day at 6:30 a.m. She milks the herd before going in for a full breakfast. When she is done, she gives hay to the cows and lets them out of the tie stalls around 11:30 a.m.

Betz feeds her herd cracked corn, hay, pasture and top-dressed mineral and protein. During the winter, they receive corn silage.

Betz has 65 acres of pasture and 36 tillable acres on which she raises 20 acres of alfalfa and 16 acres of corn, all of which is chopped.

During the afternoons, Betz works on projects like haying, gardening or mowing the lawn.

“There’s always something to do,” Betz said. “(What I do) depends on what the day is.”

Growing a garden and preserving food is one of the ways Betz saves money. She and several siblings share garden produce.

“That’s how we try to make it,” Betz said. “If we didn’t have gardens, we wonder what we would do.”

Betz also limits outsourced labor.

“We do everything ourselves (that) we can,” Betz said. “You don’t hire if you don’t have to.”

Until Seeger returns, Betz will take a step forward each day. A new endeavor for her is growing a beef herd. It currently consists of five cows and some heifers. She hopes to manage both herds with Seeger eventually, though some have encouraged her to move to only beef.

“I’m just trying to figure out what the best thing is to do,” Betz said. “If milk prices are good, you get a check every two weeks that helps you survive.”