I remember one morning of frustration while I was out feeding calves. We had several heifers calve into the herd and had an excessive amount of calves on our farm.

All of our hutches were full; we resorted to housing them in the hay shed but knew it would be very temporary as we were filling it with bales as fast as we could get them off the field.

I remember looking at my clipboard trying to sort out which calf belonged to which cow and what they should be getting fed. Frustration filled me, and I wished things were different and more organized. I began to dread my chores.

A few days later, I was working with my daughter on a project she needed to have completed. She had several goals that she should have had accomplished and was required to write about her experiences.

After what seemed like hours of sitting at the kitchen table (I’m sure it was only 20 minutes), she pushed her books aside on the table and exclaimed, “I just wish I was done with this! I wish I already knew all this stuff and knew what to write!”

While digging deep for some patience with her attitude toward the project, I explained the following analogy to her:

“It’s like this, sweetheart. I can wish all day every day with all my might that I don’t have flabby old lady arms. I can wish it in the morning when I wake up, all during the day and doodle pictures of the strong toned arms that I desire and dream about it at night.

But nothing is going to change. All that wishing won’t do a single thing. I have to turn my wishes into action. I have to pick up the weights and work my muscles if I want things to change; I have to make a physical effort.”

I hopped down off my soapbox and went about doing the dishes as she grabbed her books and scooted off to another room. While I stood there scrubbing dishes, relishing in the great sermon I had just given, it hit me.

Nothing was going to change with our calf operation unless I made a physical effort. I could keep wishing things were different and dreading putting on my chore boots every day – or I could make things change.

I started small. My first goal was to get organized. I knew that, without tags in their ears, all of the notes and records in the computer couldn’t keep them straight in the barnyard.

I spent a couple hours going through our notes and checking with employees and Rob (my hubby and boss) to confirm which calf belonged to which cow and got them all tagged. Then my OCD kicked in; I wanted them in numerical order, and I wanted to rearrange all of the pens and calves.

I was so excited! I got shut down. Upon discussion with the boss, it would have taken a fair amount of work and time which we didn’t have because we were in hay. It also would have stressed the calves, so I conceded. But I didn’t forget my goal. Slowly, as the older calves moved out, I started to arrange things how I envisioned.

Next up on my agenda was to get the calves weaned between 6 and 8 weeks. That meant I could move them over to group housing, and I would have more free pens for the new babies. I designed a white board in the milk barn with all the calves’ information on it so that all employees and myself were feeding the same thing.

It didn’t take long and the calves were progressing as planned. I once again enjoyed my chores and am very proud of our calf operation. As for my daughter, after studying for a while, she marched into the other room and declared, “Well, this really isn’t hard at all; I can be done in no time.”

I guess in the end it is our attitude about things we desire to change that matters most, and most of the time, that is an easy thing to control. PD

Holly Hull
Dairy Producer
Preston, Idaho