Full-Time, Female Farmer

When someone asks me what I do or where I work, my answer comes as a bit of a surprise to most. 

I am a farmer. A full-time, female farmer.  

As farmers, we get to wake up every day and simply walk outside to arrive at work. We set our own schedules and goals for the day, week, and year ahead.  We are entrepreneurs. 

We also have no paid days off, no company health insurance, no 401K, and the biggest yet...no guaranteed salary. 

So how do we make a profit, pay off the farm loan, and provide for our families? We never stop learning how to get better at our jobs. We learn from others, we attend agriculture conferences, we read and listen to experts in the field, and we learn by trial and error. We work really hard and most importantly, we are passionate about agriculture. That means we care for our livestock, our land, and our community because if we don't care for them, they won't provide for us. 

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Highlights from the farm this time of year: 

Our spring cows are having babies! We have about 75 baby calves already born with more to go! Our calves are born in a pasture with little to no assistance. We check the cows at least twice a day to make sure all the babies are healthy and doing well. 

When a new calf is born, we let the calf and its mom have several hours to themselves to bond and let nature take its course. The cow will lick the calf dry and the calf will be up and trying nurse within 1-3 hours after being born! It's really a miraculous process. Once we've seen that the calf is up and has nursed, we will put an ear tag in the calf's ear for identification. It's important to know which calf belongs to which cow in case the calf gets separated from the cow or needs any assistance. 

In this picture: Brendan has grabbed a newborn calf and is holding it for me to put a tag in its ear. If you set the calf on its butt, like shown here, they hold very still and are not in any stress while we tag them and then return to the cow. The cows are always standing near watching us tag their calf and then are happily reunited after the 30-second tagging event is over.