We recently celebrated our daughter’s first birthday, and one of the absolute cutest gifts she received was her first pair of cowgirl boots. While these adorable little brown and pink boots are mostly for looks until she gets more confident with her walking abilities, I’ll admit that it was an obvious rite of passage for her little farmgirl self. If you want a sure-fire crowd-pleaser, just stick a baby in little cowgirl boots and do a lap through a local event. Trust me, the smiles and comments will flood in.
As she dons these little boots and we soak in the cuteness, I think of the endless pairs of boots in her future — some surely to be more practical than others. Boots are one of the biggest staples for farm kids and farmers alike. Whether you need chore boots for stomping through manure, insulated boots for those long winter days trudging through snow, or a pair of nice cowboy boots for a night out to supper with the neighbors, we tend to go through our fair share of this footwear choice.
In the world of raising kids on the farm, kids outgrow their boots so fast that they are handed down to siblings and cousins to make use of. As they grow older, they’ll join the company of their parents and grandparents in wearing out pair after pair of work boots.
Just like kids getting a new backpack or pair of tennis shoes for the start of each school year, farmers go through days at the beginning of each season, shopping for new boots to hopefully last through the months ahead. Some of us find a trusted style and brand to remain loyal to, while others are destined to keep trying every option in the hopes of finding the magical formula that combines comfort and longevity (a rare treasure, indeed). I, sadly, fall into the second category as I either tend to wear through boots incredibly fast or find the faulty pair that springs a leak within weeks of their first wear. I’ll admit finding good boots is a big, ongoing frustration in my world.
For now, the fun of buying cute boots for our daughter and future son (surprise, we’ll also be buying little cowboy boots in 2025!) is far more thrilling than the routine purchases of work boots for my husband and myself.
The author dairy farms with her parents and brother near Hawkeye, Iowa. The family milks approximately 300 head of grade Holstein cows at Windsor Valley Dairy LLC — split half and half between a double-eight parallel milking parlor and four robotic milking units. In the spring of 2020, Molly decided to take a leap and fully embrace her love for the industry by returning full time to her family’s dairy.
