Journalistic Intentions Writings

Down On the Family Farm

Reference and research:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/07/518841084/farmers-fight-environm...

Minnesota University: 4-H

story by JudihD. (Apondia)

Down On The Family Farm

They call them the ladies.

Randy looked at me then asked, "you gonna go out with Jerry to get the ladies?" He pointed at Jerry.

"Take Pal."

Randy Norton was the farmer we came to visit. Dad was going to help with the milking every day for awhile. I begged to come along of course. I'm 12. Everyone says I'm small for my age. Dad says I'm big enough to go adventuring. so he takes me a lot of the places he goes to help out.

Pal is a part Shepard, part mongrel farm dog. Jerry says, pal eats in the house and sleeps nights in the house but, most of the time prefers to spend days walking around the farm or sleeping on the mat outside the milkhouse door.

Dad tugged on one of my braids. I looked up at him. "Do what ever Jerry says and don't get stepped on OK?"

"Yeah Dad I know the drill."

"Common Mazy let's go." Jerry called as he waved his whole arm toward the gate at the back of the barn.

Jerry's a year older and a head taller than me. He was wearing real cowboy boots with his jeans and blue t-shirt. I was wearing tennis shoes, jeans and a yellow t-shirt. I was hoping we wouldn't get into to much mud. Jerry's stride is longer and I had to hustle to keep up.

At the back of the barn was a doorway 20 feet wide. I don't know how tall but, for sure it is tall enough for the tractor to bring in round bales of hay. Randy brings in a bale and deposits it in the space before the long rows of stantions.

Stantions are Medal posts fastened together at the bottom by more metal. One side falls open. When one of the ladies puts her head in; the open side will be closed and fastened shut so she can't get back out. The opening is long enough so the milker can stand up or lay down with comfort.

Right now the big barn doors, that can be closed in bad weather were fastened back out of the way and a metal gate made with round metal bars was fastened across the opening. A nice summer breeze was blowing into the barn from the west; keeping the barn cool and comfortable.

Jerry opened the gate all the way and fastened it back. we were walking down a 50 foot lane about 30 feet wide. The lane would take us to the pasture where the herd was grazing.

"When we get back I'll show you Daisy. She is my heifer, I'm raising for 4-H this year. I keep her in a shed and small pasture out back of the house."

"Is she all your own."

"Well, not really, just mine to raise. I'm teaching her to lead. Everyday I groom her and feed her. I'm going to show her at the county fair. We have a local 4-H program where they are teaching us all about farming. Maybe I'll be a farmer like dad, when I get out of school. Dad and Mom want me to go to college so that's a long way away for now. I learned a lot about rotational grazing at 4-H. Dad liked the program so we are building more rotational grazing into dad's farming program."

When we left the lane we kept following along the fence of the pasture. Jerry stopped. I watched while he whistled loud with two fingers on his lips. Then he started yelling come boss, come boss. "Pal fetch the girls."

"Hey Jerry. Teach me to whistle like that. I could surprise dad with that trick."

"OK. Wait til we go see daisy. we will be out of your dad's hearing range then."

Soon, I could see cows wandering our way from all parts of the pasture. Once in a while one would stop to grab a mouthful of orchard grass. Pal would run behind any straggler and bark, so they kept moving our way, than down the lane and into the barn. There were a lot of them.

"How many are there Jerry?"

"Dad's milking about 60 now. He wants to have more. Covid-19 slowed farming down. We need more help on the farm and help is not easy to get. Dad is really glad your dad is going to help for awhile. We still have a lot of hay to put in for winter feed. The milking has to be done twice a day. I help as much as I can. I'm driving tractor now. Dad taught me to use the baler and rake. When school starts it will just be dad. And Mom will help with milking then. We had part time help but the family moved away to be with the wife's sister. Some of their family got sick with covid and they needed to be together."

We trotted up the lane after the last of the cattle were entering the barn. There are two rows of cattle stantions with a wide path between them. Jerry said, the cows were mostly Holsten. Each one, weighted up to 1500 lbs. As they entered the barn, they were very docile. Each one picked a stantion and stuck her head into it. Jerry's dad was moving down one row locking each stantion. Jerry ran to lock stantions in the other row. My dad was pitching hay into a manger. that ran the full length of the stantions. There were also feeding stations at each stantion, where grain was dumped as Randy started washing the bags and placing the milking machines on each milker.

The milking machines made a steady rhythmic hissing sound as they pulled milk from the teats on the cattle with hissing pressure. Pal went over to the milk room door and laid down on a mat, that Randy kept there for him. I was watching the milk flowing through lines all leading into the milk house.

After the milking was finished Randy took us into the milk house. He opened the stainless-steel tank door to show the milk. It was being kept cool and a paddle was very slowly moving it around. Soon a truck with a large tank would come to pump the milk out of the farm storage and take it to a processing plant. Randy said there were 30 milk processing plants in the state of Minnesota, 2600 hundred dairy farms, that produce 1 million gallons of milk.

Jerry and I went to see Daisy. Only half grown her coat was shiny black and white. She was really sweet and gentle. I fed her some salt. She licked my hand with a very large, soft, slurpy, pink tongue.

Jerry showed me how to whistle and laughed when I couldn't quite manage much sound. I'll keep practicing until I get as good at it, as he is.

The End

Farming is a large enterprise in Minnesota. Manure from dairy cattle are used as fertilizer, sent to processing plants to be made into plant pots, and as a source of methane which is the main gas in natural gas. Methane gas can be used to run generators and produce electricity.

The legislature in Minnesota regulates farms by EPA regulation standards. Farmers have many associations in the state that speak up for the farmers, when legislation is pending that will affect the way farms are run.

Although the story tells you about a family run farm there are always changing ways to keep the cattle and do the milking. Newer types of milking parlors and in barn resting areas for the cattle are being devised and encouraged, so cattle are treated humanely.

Dairy herds and beef herds are different breeds because they supply a different need in our society.

Other types of Minnesota farms raise, poultry, pork, deer, turkey, and eggs. Each of these farms have their own systems for raising and caring for the animals.

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