About 4 years ago we joined Facebook. We put it off for a long time, until we started to notice things. We noticed people jumping right into the middle of already-started-on-facebook conversations. Then they would laugh over a picture that was shared...then they would have to catch us up on what was going on.
It appeared the choice was to join and keep up with the times or not join and stay in the dark, picking up whatever pieces of information you could here and there and piecing them together to get the whole story. So we took the plunge.
Shortly after that we started our calf counts, a daily report of how many calves were born during calving season. It's a fun way to keep people informed of the day's events during our busiest time of the year.
As you've probably assumed, many of our friends are dairy farmers. A good handful of them are seasonal producers, who have a yearly calving season, similar to ours. Our farm is small in comparison to most of them. We will calve 137 cows this year, and many of our friends are up around 300 or more. You can imagine what their calf count updates are...double or even triple ours.
The dairy industry as a whole, especially its higher-up representatives have taken on this "bigger is better" assumption. When you meet a dairy farmer for the first time they'll ask:
1. How many cows do you milk?
2. How many acres do you own/rent?
3. What's your rolling herd average? (lbs/cow/year)
...Then, before you even know it they have already made a judgement for or against you on whether you are worthy of their acknowledgment, time, or companionship.
A couple of years ago, when the dairy industry was in conflict with itself over pending legislation, a farmer, who owns a farm substantially larger than ours pointed out to me that 25% of dairy farms (the large ones) provide 75% of the milk supply, and the other 75% (small farms) provide 25% of the milk. He was a little taken aback when I responded with "So what? God loves us all the same, 1 cow or 1000."
The size of your farm, your bank account, your family, your house...doesn't matter. It does not make you more special or inferior.
Its hard to not feel intimidated sometimes. When we read what others have going on, we often compare ourselves. If they can handle 15 calves/day, why does 7 almost overwhelm us here? Can you imagine how many people laugh or think "big deal" when they read our calf counts?
You know what? It is a big deal...to us.
Every farm's situation is different. At this season in our lives we are perfectly content milking around 100 cows. It is about all we can handle. On this farm its Rick and I, one part time employee (right now), and five kids. Two of those kids can dress themselves and actually help a little outside. The other three have to be helped and watched. Every. Single. Day. We could have not had so many kids and milked more cows (there is only so many hours in a day). I'm glad we choose the kids. We could milk more cows and hire most all the work done (if you can find people to do it, who share your standards) but we like to work-so we have to limit it to what we can do.
I have to admit it-I'm guilty of asking the first two questions, but not for the reasons that you think. I always ask the first two questions so I can immediately figure out what the stocking rate would be for a pasture based grazing system. Its a horrible habit of mine! Farmers are probably thinking I'm making some sort of judgement about them, and I'm not.
We enjoy reading other farm's calf counts, and we enjoy sharing ours. Its neat to be to sit down at night and know what your neighbors are dealing with, even if you didn't get to visit with them that day.
Big or small, best wishes to all our farming friends!
...let the counting begin!
No comments:
Post a Comment