The most interesting grass-fed farmer

In the Midwest, it’s well known that most people are polite. If they see something odd or something they don’t like, they won’t say how they feel about it. They’ll just say, “That’s interesting.” I was told the other day by a friend that I am the most interesting grass-fed dairy farmer he knows. I think it was a compliment, but he’s a born and bred Midwesterner so I might just be odd.

The conversation in which I was deemed as either the most interesting or eccentric farmer came when I told him I was going on a trip with a friend to climb mountains in Colorado. It’s a pretty low bar for me to be the most interesting grass-fed dairy farmer he knows as I’m the only one he knows. I’m also possibly the only person he knows who climbs rocks and mountains for fun. It’s not the typical activity for a farmer, although I do know a few people in agriculture who are also avid hikers and climbers of rocks and mountains. I’ve met many more farmers who love skiing, probably because winter is an easier time for farmers to vacation and that is very much a winter sport.

I started writing this article by a lake in the mountains of Rocky Mountain National Park while eating a dinner of rehydrated chicken and ramen noodles with some vegetables, one of my favorite backpacking meals, second to grits with ham and parmesan cheese. I got busy getting things around the farm ready for me to disappear into the mountains for part of a week and forgot I had an article deadline approaching. Thankfully, there’s pretty decent cell reception when you get to the top of a mountain, and I checked my texts and emails and saw a reminder that I better get the Dairy Star staff an article before I headed home if I’d like it to be printed. A beautiful alpine lake with Longs Peak as the backdrop, the smell of pine trees and a thunderstorm that just rolled through is probably a better setting for painting a picture or writing a poem, but it’ll do as inspiration for a Dairy Star article too.

If you’ve never been to Rocky Mountain National Park, you should consider going. Colorado is remarkably cheap to fly to and rent a car. You can also drive there in a day from Minnesota, but it’s a very long day of driving. The park is only a couple hours from Denver and has a town right outside for food and other supplies or experiences you might want while visiting the park. As far as where to sleep, I’m cheap and find forest land to camp for free, so I don’t have much advice for you on that. If you want to know of a beautiful spot next to a creek at the base of some mountains to camp on forest service land though, I can give you the coordinates.

I know I’ve said it before in an article or two, but get out there and enjoy nature. As farmers we are outside every day, sometimes enjoying the outdoor work and sometimes wishing we had one of those office jobs that are warm and dry. Farming is a stressful job. Going somewhere beautiful, whether that’s a beach or mountain, and being outside because you want to be and where you want to be is great for mental health.

Until next time keep living the dream and get outside. First, get corn silage and other time-sensitive harvest tasks done, but then get out there and relax in nature. You’ll be glad you did and problems that seemed really big before may seem much more manageable.

Tim Zweber farms with his wife, Emily, their three children and his parents, Jon and Lisa, near Elko, Minnesota.