The relief milkers

COURTLAND, Minn. — Cows have to be milked 365 days a year no matter what. But, there are times that dairy farmers need — or want — to get away. That can be a major problem, especially if there are no employees to fill in.

A number of farmers in south central Minnesota have found an answer to their dilemma. They call the Schroeder family.

Since early 2019, Michele (Dammann) Schroeder, her sons, Alex and Aiden, and sometimes her daughter, April, have helped area farmers. The family provides relief milking services — sometimes for just one milking, sometimes for days at a time.

“I am thankful that nearly every dairy farm I go to allows me to bring my kids,” Schroeder said. “They learn hard work, meet others in the dairy industry, learn to be responsible and trustworthy, and learn more about dairy.”

It is not the first time Schroeder has filled the role. She did it for a number of years while in high school at Glencoe-Silver Lake, starting in the summer of 1992 — sometimes milking before and after school. She also did it on occasion in the summer of 1997, when she was an intern with the Minnesota Holstein Association. She continued the summer she was a county dairy princess and when she was engaged to Courtland dairy farmer Jason Schroeder.

She said she found the calls stopped after she and Jason were married in 2004.

That was probably OK, Michele said, because she was busy, helping with milking on the Schroeder farm, and raising three kids.

After the Schroeders sold their dairy herd in November 2018, Michele decided to resume relief milking. It did not take long for word to get around that she would lend a hand to farmers needing to get away.

Since then, she has helped at least 10 farmers, covering milking so they can enjoy weddings, vacations, dairy shows or even concentrate on field work.

Each year since 2019, the Schroeders have milked at Scott and Jackie Rickemans’ Floralawn Holsteins near Hutchinson every July, spending five days at the farm and handling all the milking, calf feeding and more.

“My original plan was to teach our kids that having cows wasn’t just five fun days at the county fair,” Schroeder said. “I do it for exercise, for the kids to learn, and for the mental health of farmers. It’s important for farmers to take a break.”

Sometimes she has also done it for her own mental health, like in the fall of 2020 when the Schroeders were having their kitchen remodeled.

“Almost every Friday night and some Saturday nights, I milked somewhere,” Schroeder said. “It helped keep my sanity and it gave me extra spending money. I usually took a child along, too. I learn something every time and the kids do, too.”

The Schroeders, who live near Courtland, will travel up to an hour from home to milk cows.

Schroeder is not currently taking any new clients. She recently started a part-time job as district outreach representative, with agricultural responsibilities, for U.S. Rep. Brad Finstad.

Schroeder’s present farm clients keep the family busy. Last November she milked for four farms in seven days. She has milked in tiestall barns and all types of parlors including step-up, herringbone, parallel, swing, and tandem or side-opening parlors.

Over the years, Schroeder has milked herds ranging from 12 cows to 700 and she has milked Brown Swiss, Guernseys, Jerseys, Holsteins, Red & White Holsteins and a few Ayrshires.

Alex, now 16, started helping in April 2019; he now sometimes handles jobs on his own at three farms. He is also employed by Sjostrom Dairy at Lafayette.

Alex is already sought after as a relief milker. One farm family plans its warm weather vacation around his spring break from high school.

Aiden, 12, also works with Michele and had the responsibility of feeding calves at the Rickeman farm in July. April, 10, sometimes accompanies the crew — but only likes to help with smaller herds.

Jason will help out with milking, too, but only at the Bill and Leah Kurth farm, where the family has cows in the herd.

Schroeder does not limit herself to just milking. At one farm, she put ear tags in cows and rewrote numbers on other tags to get things ready for the milk tester. Alex bred a cow at the Rickeman farm after finishing milking this July.

Cow care is very important to Schroeder.

“I try to do chores and milk like they’re my own cows,” she said. “When I started years ago, there were no cell phones. I hesitated to call — and rarely had to. I’m not used to calling farmers when they’re away.”

Schroeder said she does remember one milking that did not go so well.

“I had to call the neighbor to help,” Schroeder said. “The cows did not take kindly to a stranger.”

Another time, she said she made the mistake of changing the radio station to something that she liked and the cows were not impressed.

Schroeder said though from time to time things have gone wrong, more often than not, the same things could have gone wrong for the owners — like milk fever for a cow that just calved on a hot July day or equipment breaking down.

One time, Michele found a cow almost strangling herself when she got to the barn in the morning. She had to cut the neck strap to save her.

There also have been unexpected calves born.

“I try to fix the situation and treat the cows like I would like my cows treated, plus make the best of the situation,” she said.

Schroeder said though she studied dairy science in college, her on-farm education in dairy continues.

“I learn things all the time — even after all these years,” Schroeder said. “The kids learn every time, too. They’re in dairy quiz bowl, dairy judging and showing. It helps with their activities and they’ve learned how to work hard.”