We do a lot of big things. We provide food for people so they can live their lives and their dreams. That’s a big deal. We are responsible for the lives of living, breathing animals that can’t take care of themselves. That’s a big deal. The larger the farm, the more economic and environmental responsibility we carry. And say it with me, that’s a big deal. So much of what we do is big that sometimes I think we overlook the little things. Sometimes, on the farm, fixing the little problems can make a bigger impact.

For example, a few months ago, it was time to replace our milking towels. For us, that means buying about 500 towels. We split them into two batches, one for the morning milking and one for the night, and we leave about 20 out for extras. One of our ongoing, mostly good-natured, battles on the farm is how the towels are constantly getting mixed up. It never fails that every two weeks, the morning batch will be three towels short while the night batch is 20 towels over. How?! So, when I bought our newest batch, I had the brilliant idea to buy two different colors. Now, at night, when you find a pink towel in with the green batch, you know just who to blame. Not only has this solved a small headache that drove us all crazy, everyone has been having fun arguing back and forth over who mixes up the towels.

My second example makes me simultaneously feel like the dumbest and smartest person on the farm. We have about two dozen cows without ear tags. A few of those cows ripped them out, but most of them just lost the tag somehow. About a month ago, it occurred to me that we could just put new ones in. I mean, the hole in their ear is there, and even if it may not match our color schemes, why not just write new tags? As it stands today, I have five more cows to catch and tag, and I’m not sure if I’ve ever been prouder of myself. I get texts of ear tag numbers now instead of pictures of their heads. I’m not fighting an ear-sensitive Jersey every herd health day anymore. I don’t think I can effectively describe how happy seeing these new ear tags makes me. And yes, I’m aware of how sad that is, and I’m okay with it.

All of this is to say that I’m learning that fixing the little pet peeves and annoyances that everyone hates can make an even bigger impact than the big things.

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The author dairies in partnership with her parents and brother at Spruce Row Farm in Pennsylvania. Jessica is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, and since 2015, she has been active in promoting dairy in her local community. You can find her and her 250 Jersey cows on Facebook at Spruce Row Dairy or on Instagram at @seejessfarm.