Growing up, I always knew I wanted to do something related to animals and/or agriculture for my career. I always enjoyed and excelled in math and science, so I knew that I would probably end up more on that side of the agriculture/animal spectrum versus the agriculture business side. Still, I wasn’t opposed to exploring this side of the industry. In high school and early college, I thought I knew what I wanted to do, but I really didn’t. Honestly, even into the first five years of my current career, I wasn’t sure if it was my true, long-term career. In hindsight, it was a blessing not knowing what I really wanted to do, and in my 10 years as a full-time dairy farmer, I have learned so much and feel like I am in a place where I fit perfectly.
I graduated college with my bachelor’s degree in biology, thinking I needed to pursue higher education. I got into law school with the idea of pursuing a law degree with a focus on agriculture law. Thankfully, I sat on this acceptance for a while and decided that I didn’t think law school was exactly what I wanted to do. During my last two years of college, I had already started working on a local dairy farm. I was going to college and putting in 40 hours a week at the dairy. I really enjoyed what I was doing but never really gave it the thought that it was a permanent place for me. In the back of my mind, I still thought I needed to do more.
After graduating college, I didn’t have another education plan yet, so I continued working at the dairy and applied for jobs in the agriculture and biology fields. Many of these places offered me positions, but it just never felt like the right step to take. After a couple more years, I somewhat settled in at the dairy, taking on more roles and responsibilities, and worked my way into more of a full-time position with benefits, even though I had already worked full-time hours for the past few years.
What a blessing in disguise this was. I’m not sure that I was all that interested in graduate programs or just thought I needed to do something more just because others were. At times, I felt that just being a dairy farmer wasn’t enough. It is more than enough. As a full-time dairy farmer, especially a young female in the industry, there are so many opportunities for growth and development, and being able to work alongside family with animals that help feed the world is such an amazing opportunity.
Through my full-time position on the farm, I have become very involved with the Farm Bureau. This led me to numerous experiences as a young leader in ag in Washington, D.C., as well as various programs through ag literacy, teaching young and old alike about farming and what we as dairy farmers do daily. I truly feel that all these events and chances were meant to be for me, and without me pursuing my career as a farmer, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Diving more specifically into my role on the farm, I have learned so much. My three biggest takeaways as the sole female employee at the dairy are:
- Never be afraid to try new things.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
- Always ask questions and take the chance to learn.
Trying new things
When I first started at the farm, I didn’t even know how to run the skid loader. I remember it took me so long to scrape the freestall barn for the first time, and it still didn’t even look that clean when I was done. After using it daily for a long time now, there are things that I have learned to do with a skid loader that make my life and job so much easier – and I would’ve never even given a thought to it before.
Asking for help
Asking for help can still sometimes be intimidating, but honestly, I’d rather have to ask for help than try to figure it out on my own and do something incorrectly that could cause more of a problem. Granted, there are times when it is not a bad idea to challenge yourself to try and figure something out, but when in doubt, ask. I have yet to ask for help and not receive it. Or, I'll receive an explanation on what to do to help fix whatever it is that I need assistance with.
Asking questions and learning
Finally, tying into my previous takeaway, ask questions and learn. Even when you think you might know what is going on, ask. There could be so much more to learn about the situation, or there could be key points that could help you in other cases on the farm.
When I first started milking, I had a handwritten list of all the steps to take to set up and tear down. Now that I am seasoned, there are times that I do stuff out of such habit that I have to stop and ask myself whether I actually did it. To this day, I am still learning and challenging myself daily. The tasks that intimidated me 10 years ago are now like clockwork to me, and in those 10 years, I have grown so much, not only as an individual but in my skill set on the farm as well.
