Women in Dairy: Elizabeth Steiner

Tell us about your family and farm. My husband, Josh, and I have four children. Our oldest is Jonathon, 27, who is engaged to Kyley and has given us two beautiful grandchildren. Our middle children are Natalie, 20, who has a heavenly twin sister, Nicole. Our youngest child is Breann, 19. Our farm is 180 acres and we rent another 270 acres where we grow corn, wheat, hay and soybeans. We milk in a 66-tiestall/stanchion barn with straw and sand bedding. With the help of our youngest, we raise all our calves, heifers, and steers.

What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? Our day begins at 4:30 a.m. We head out to the barn to milk our cows and feed the calves. We feed our cows at a bunk outside with our portable total mixed ration mixer. They eat outside while we clean the barn with the barn cleaner and bed and feed them. In the winter they will be outside for about 2.5 hours. In the summer they spend their time lounging in the pasture day and night in between milkings. Our days are never boring as there is always something to do, whether it’s bedding all the heifers and steers or cleaning their pens out or field work that Josh and I handle with the help of our retired neighbor. I also handle the bookwork for the farm and all the housework with the help of our youngest, who just started her first year at Blackhawk Technical College studying agronomy.

What decision have you made in the last year that has benefited your farm? We installed new headlocks for our cattle shed, so we can hold six groups now: three groups of heifers and three groups of beef steers.

Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. I have so many precious memories of our work on the farm with the kids, Josh and me working side by side as a team. Of all the projects we have done, I think my favorite time was when we fixed the fence that separates the calf huts and the cow yard last year. Breann and both of our fathers were there helping us.

What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? Being here every day, raising our children and watching all the life from beginning to end.

What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? My biggest accomplishment is driving all the machinery with implements around the farm, on the road and in the fields. I was not a country kid, so my husband put me in a tractor and now I can chop, run the bunk out, do fieldwork, and haul in loads to the bagger or bin. I also drive along the combine while my husband unloads on the go.

What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? My husband makes videos for TikTok about mental health and farming. We are a part of a wonderful community called FarmTok that has broadened our world and helped us make friends across the Midwest. We also opened up our farm this last year to host the Green County Breakfast on the Farm, which about 5,000 people attended. We give tours whenever asked and have also done radio interviews. We open our farm as much as we can so people can see firsthand how important farming is to our world and the time and care we give to our animals.

What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Find the good in every day. No matter how bad things may be, there is always something to be proud of or thankful for. Learn from your mistakes, but don’t dwell on them.

What is a challenge in the dairy industry you have faced and how did you overcome it? The milk price is our biggest challenge. It is very hard to plan accordingly when one month you have extra funds and the next month takes those extra funds plus more that is not there. All the planning in the world cannot prepare you for your paycheck dropping dollars from the previous check when nothing has changed on your end. The cows make their milk and we help them by providing the best quality feed, but it is not enough. Some months we are lucky to buy groceries to feed ourselves because paying the bills has to be the priority. We have to care for the animals first and foremost over ourselves. It is a reality check that leads to sleepless nights and wonders about why we even try to keep the farm. That is why we started raising steers, so we have that cushion since we have enough ground to feed them. Unless something happens with the milk processors and the government finally sees that they have to pay more to farmers, we will still be here struggling to keep going.

When you get a spare moment, what do you do? My favorite thing to do is play games with my children and grandchildren. I also enjoy reading, baking and watching movies.