It was only weird to me because it was so different than my upbringing in my home state of Kansas. While the dairy industry here is quite tight-knit, it is not large. As of last month, there are only 128 Grade A dairy farms in Kansas. The size of the industry and the distance between farms make it difficult to gather, and the burden of planning those gatherings often falls on a few people.
A few months ago, I got notice of a Holstein Field Day being held in Northeast Kansas. Dairy farmers in that area took it upon themselves to organize a farm tour-based day. Food and speakers were provided, and enough time was allowed for those authentic learning conversations with each other. As far as anyone could remember, it had been nearly 25 years since the Kansas Holstein Association had organized something similar.
The day more than lived up to its billing! It felt rejuvenating to have an opportunity to go see some farms, visit with peers, and visit with some people I haven’t seen in a while. We toured an on-farm creamery, farms with robotic technologies, and a few multigenerational operations that just do things well.
It makes the effort even more important
I know many dairy farmers today feel the isolation of being the only remaining farm in the neighborhood, town, county, or region. Beyond making parts of the business more difficult, it is also simply mentally draining. It makes events like the aforementioned field day so critical, both for people to be willing to host and for people to make an effort to attend.
For those who organize these events they deserve a big thank you. It’s difficult to repeatedly come up with creative and engaging ideas for bringing people together. It is also a good reminder that sometimes those people need to be each of us.
If you are stuck in a funk, consider finding a way to get off the farm for a few minutes, hours, or days. Go learn from other farmers or take a break. Recognize that for many of us, gathering can be a powerful medicine.
The author is a dairy farmer in Kansas and a former associate editor at Hoard’s Dairyman. Raised on a 150-cow dairy near Valley Center, Kansas, Maggie graduated from Kansas State University with degrees in agricultural communications and animal sciences.
