The author and her husband, Duane, own and operate a 550-cow dairy in Cochranville, Pa.

February is the month that we are supposed to focus on love. Duane and I often told our children that farming is an occupation of commitment and “you have to love it to like it.” I suppose people of all careers could say the same, but I feel like farming takes that saying to a whole other level.

Most farmers I come in contact with would stand behind that motto. We generally love what we do and most of us would admit that we couldn’t see ourselves doing anything else. After all, Saint Ignatius once said that “Love is shown more in deeds than in words.” A dairy farmer’s day is full of deeds that show admiration for the animal and the farm. I am going to list a few of our favorite “loves” of the dairy.

We love working with our animals. There is something very special about a dairy cow. Her ability to turn feed into milk and nourish a community is amazing.

The unique and interesting personalities of cows makes them enjoyable to work with, and developing strong and long-lasting cow families that improve each generation is fulfilling. I enjoy watching new, on-farm technologies develop that continue to help show her value.

We love the variety that the farming lifestyle brings and the fact that our days are as unique as the markings on our cows. Routine is a big part of a farmer’s success, but farms have enough variability feeding into the day that even within our routines, there is a depth of variety.

Complacency is not part of a farmer’s daily life. The movie “Groundhog Day” has no place on our dairy farms because each day brings a new set of challenges, opportunities, and rewards.

For those who are required to get fields ready for cropping, there is a great appreciation for the soil. They maintain the land and crops to produce a quality feed that we provide back to our animals. I know that is a place Duane loves to be when the weather and season permit.

Living in wide-open spaces with clean air to breathe is a huge plus. Our sunrises and sunsets are not blocked by concrete and brick and our personal space is calculated in acres, not square feet.

That being said, it is interesting to farm on the East Coast where there is encroachment from New York City on the north side of us, Philadelphia on the east side, and Baltimore and Washington, D.C., to the south. Surrounded by more people than many parts of the United States, our farm still has a spacious and open landscape that I love.

Duane and I appreciate the people who work both in the dairy industry and on our farm. Some of our employees have been here for decades and are like family. We look out for each other and help each other on and off of the farm.

I have heard time and again from people in the dairy industry that working for and with farmers gives them purpose and passion in their job. They want to make sure farmers succeed and thrive, and they love that their work is a part of that outcome.

However, we know that even though we love many aspects of our occupation, there are days that we question our career choice. There are days that everything we touch breaks, the weather fights us on every corner, and we aren’t sure if this is really what we want to do tomorrow.

It does not matter how many cows a farmer milks, what style of barn the cows are milked in, or what age a farmer happens to be — there are days we all wonder if this is the day that determines whether or not we will throw in the milking towel.

There are frustrating situations that we face on particular days, but for the most part, we still get up the next morning, knowing that even though the previous day was horrendous, we face a new day with new opportunities.

I am sure that my dairy friends who faced the H5N1 virus last year will confess to those feelings. Challenges that require, intense and relentless animal care day and night drain a lot of emotion and energy out of a person. This is an extreme example and some are not dealing with this deep of a problem. However, the frustration is real, especially when it spread so quickly.

Sometimes our challenges are small and easy to handle. Sometimes the hurdles are mountainous and seemingly hard to get over. One could probably argue that the variety of obstacles on our farms is what gives us so much resilience as farmers.

At the end of the day, us dairy farmers love what we do. This is not a job that you do if you just "like" it. This is a job that you have to love what you do — simply because it is an occupation that you must be present for 365 days a year. Loving our dairying lifestyle enables us to like it when things get rough, and deepen our appreciation as we see the circle of life firsthand.