When you work on your family’s dairy farm, taking a sick day isn’t really an option. And when everyone comes down with a severe stomach flu over the course of 24 hours, getting the required chores completed takes everyone’s maximum available effort. Running a farm usually doesn’t come with traditional paid time off, sick time, or maternity/paternity leave, which were all front of mind for me at nine months pregnant while dealing with an extreme stomach bug this past week.
The five members of my family that work full time on our dairy farm seemed to catch the worst stomach flu with the rhythm and speed of dominoes falling. Every few hours another one of us would start to feel the signs of what was about to transpire. What turned out to be a severe, but short-lasting sickness had us all achy and weary of food, but on the mend within a day or two.
Luckily, working with family means we cover for each other when needed and are able to jump in and fill different roles when the going gets tough. In this instance, who was covering for who literally changed by the hour. In situations like that, we must accept the fact that the bare minimum might be all that gets done on days when no one is at their best. As long as the cows are fed and get milked, the extra chores can wait a day or two in most instances. Believe me, the routine feeding, barn cleaning, and milking took all the strength and determination we could muster in those few days.
As farmers, we know that working with livestock means we have to be there to care for them — even when we can barely function ourselves. We also must accept that we may need a little extra help from one another on those hard days, and that being flexible with which chores need done when is essential.
As I prepare to have my second baby in the coming weeks, I realize how lucky I am that everyone else will help fill in for me as I hopefully make a quick recovery and get back out to the barn as soon as possible. While the ability to have a set maternity leave would be helpful, relying on family members to ease the transition back to the demands of full-time farm work is a blessing in its own way.
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.
