Why we do what we do

Photo credit: Natalina Sents, Beck's Hybrids

As I reported before, Natalina Sents is traveling all 50 states this year to honor farmers.  She is writing farmers' stories on the 'Why I Farm' site by Beck's, too.

She posted her story about us, and I'm so glad that she captured what Kris said.  It's nice for us to read back on it on the longest days, when he is working every waking hour!  (80 heifer calves and counting!)

“You think about all the things that go into a dairy farm. Growing the crops, maintaining the machinery, and milking the cows. This is the finished product that we come up with every day. We really have a lot of pride in all this work that we all do culminates into that product. So you really just want to do the best job you can, shipping out a high quality product. The more comfortable, well taken care of and fed the cows are, the more milk and the better milk they’ll give. They have mattresses, and fans, and a nutritionist, and a veterinarian, and a hoof trimmer, because it’s such a symbiotic relationship that we all are taking care of each other. We’re spending all this time and effort regardless. If you end up with just a mediocre product at the end, it’s just not that motivating. We’re trying to do the best job we can for the safety and quality, but also it’s for all of us that work here. We take pride in what we do.”

The entire article is here, on Why I Farm.

Photo credit: Natalina Sents, Beck's Hybrids

Want to know more about the farm?  Like the page on Facebook, on Twitter @carlashelley, or sign up to get the blog by email - the form is on the right side of the page.

Why I Farm - Natalina Sents goes on 50-state tour honoring farmers

Natalina Sents just graduated from Iowa State with a degree in Agricultural Business.  But instead of going right into a job, she's doing something different!

In her words ...

"I knew I didn't want this to be the end of my Why I Farm experience, but I had a burning desire to travel. Plus, I had so much to learn about American agriculture outside of corn, soybeans, cattle and pigs.

After months of daydreaming, planning, and praying, I came to Beck's with an idea. I wanted to use what they'd taught me to tell the stories of farmers from all 50 states. Most people probably would have thought my idea was crazy, but the Beck’s team loved it. My dream matched the Why I Farm Movement’s mission to honor American farmers. There are so many diverse ag stories to tell, and partnering with Beck’s will allow both of us to honor more farmers than we could on our own.

I’m excited to announce that after I graduate from Iowa State, on May 15th, I'll be heading out on the Why I Farm Roadtrip. For the next year, I'll be traveling the country working with Beck's and many others to honor farmers of all kinds. I will be sharing my interviews with farmers on the Why I Farm blog and Why I Farm social media pages."

You can follow Natalina's 50-state, year-long journey!

The Roots Journey  - Why I Farm   -  Instagram   -  Facebook  -  Twitter

Since she started in Michigan, today she came here!  Elaine Bristol from Michigan Ag Council and Natalie Horning from Michigan Farm Bureau came, too.

Of course, as you'd expect, she was lovely to talk to and interested in everything.  It was a joy to spend the morning with them.  Kris and I were happy to show her all around the farm and answer her questions.

I wanted her to be able to do something memorable - she's going to a lot of farms after all - so we had her pail train a calf.  They drink from a bottle usually easily, but you have to train them to drink by putting their heads down.  She did a great job and when hand washing wasn't immediately available, she wiped them on her jeans like everybody on a farm!

We discussed a lot, and of course her last question is 'Why do you farm?'  Kris' answer was so nice I couldn't even really add to it.  But I'll let Natalina address that in her own blog - after all, this is her show!

After the tour, we had ice cream sandwiches (naturally) and talked.  I'm really looking forward to following her journey  - she's going places like cranberry bogs where I've never been! - and I'm so glad she spent part of it here on our little dairy farm.  

She tweeted that she had dairy twice more today - ice cream and macaroni and cheese - and as a I read that I snapped a picture of my last bite of my dinner.  All the work that went into making this ice cream - fantastic.

Thank you, Natalina - have a great trip!  

Want to know more about the farm?  Like the page on Facebook, on Twitter @carlashelley, or sign up to get the blog by email - the form is on the right side of the page.