Women in Dairy

Melanie Whiteaker
Byron, Minnesota
Olmsted County
60 cows

Tell us about your family and farm. Our family consists of my husband, Isaac, me and our four dogs, Dixie, Roscoe, Maggie and Lando. I did not grow up on a dairy farm, but Isaac grew up on a farm between Kasson and Byron. After my husband’s family moved off the farm, he found a spot at Terra McCree Holsteins in 2009 working for Kevin Connelly. About eight years later, I started working at Terra McCree Holsteins in October 2017 just as part-time help. Then, March of 2020 came around, and I took on the full-time herdsman position. We like to do things old school and milk in a tiestall barn that consists of 60 stalls. We milk twice a day. The herd is mostly Holsteins, but we have a handful of Jerseys. At Terra McCree Holsteins, we raise everything that hits the ground whether it is a heifer, bull or beef cross. We raise the heifers for replacements and finish out the steers. Along with the animals, the farm runs around 800 acres of corn, soybeans, forages, oats and cover crops.

What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? A typical day for me starts at about 4:45 a.m. by waking up and heading to the farm. Once I’m at the farm, I check our maternity shed to see if we have any new calves. If we have a new calf, I will water the cow and get the calf moved up to our calf barn. My other tasks for the day are to milk the cows twice a day, clean the barn and lay fresh feed for the lactation cows. Once the barn chores are done, I head up to the other farm to feed grain to the heifers and steers. I also feed corn silage to our yearling heifers and dry cows at the other farm. After I get done feeding at our other farm, I head back to the farm to feed our breeding-age heifers and maternity-shed animals (close-up springing heifers and cows). Also, some of my days will consist of making sure all aged animals are vaccinated and breeding cows or heifers if need be. My day normally ends around 7:30 p.m.

What decision have you made in the last year that has benefited your farm? In the last year, a decision that I made was changing how I milked. We used to start at the north end of the barn and end at the south end. I now start at the south end and end at the north since that’s where our milk house is. It has seemed to make milking more efficient.

Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. My most memorable experience just happened this last May when we had our first set of triplets. This was the first set I have witnessed. All three calves are still doing great.

What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? What I have enjoyed the most so far is seeing the genetics I have created. It is such a great feeling seeing the newborn heifer calf hit the ground and raise her and see her come into the barn two years later. I also enjoy seeing how the steers finish out.

What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? Explain. My biggest accomplishment so far is owning my Jersey cows. I started out with a cow named L-E and now basically all my Jerseys go back to her. I even still have her first daughter named Lorilei who just recently retired to live out her golden years on pasture. She will be 10 years old this coming January.

What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? Every year, my in-laws, Ron and Mary Whiteaker, manage the malt wagon for Dodge County, and we work in the malt stand as a family to promote the dairy industry.

What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Find yourself a great mentor. Finding a person you can go talk to makes a world of difference. Also, go with your gut instincts. Not all the time do we need to listen to everyone’s opinion. Make sure to have fun and enjoy the work you are doing.

What is a challenge in the dairy industry you have faced and how did you overcome it? A challenge I have faced is knowing when I need help with something and knowing it is OK to fail. I had to learn the key is communication. If there is no communication given, there is no way to learn and grow.

When you get a spare moment, what do you do? My husband and I are on a bowling league in Hayfield. We bowl once a week for about 28 weeks out of the year along with Isaac’s whole family.