Tuesday, August 2, 2011

The Life of the Dairy Farmer

From Grass to Cheese: The Nolan Family Farm from Milk Products on Vimeo.

I'll admit that I have passing fantasies about buying a small farm on which I would plant an heirloom apple orchard, grow a small market garden, raise a few dairy cows and make artisan cheese for a living. In my imaginary world, the grass is always green, the fruits and veggies are always flawless, the milk is always flowing and the cheese is always tasty. The reality of this life in all probability is much more uncertain and complicated. An honest and at times brutal account of such an undertaking is detailed in Kurt Timmermeister's memoir, Growing a Farmer, which I just finished reading the other day.

Meet Your Farmer - Reed Farm from Pull-Start Pictures on Vimeo.

One has to have a great deal of respect for today's dairy farmer. With the kind of commercial and regulatory pressures they currently face, it cannot be easy to carve out a living doing what they do. I'll try to remember this the next time I purchase a gallon of milk.

12 comments:

  1. Thank you sharing this information! The family farm is a dieing breed and our food chain suffers for it. We need to wake up and support or "Family FARMS!"

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  2. We are dairy farmers. Its a hard life. we cannot find any workers so we are going to have to sell the farm. Its hard to let go of a dream.

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  3. You may enjoy reading "Growing a Farmer" by Timmermeister. He did exactly what you wish for and wrote about it well. Anna in MD

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  4. Mrs. Pickles - I'm so sorry to hear that! What a tragedy. :(

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  5. Oh my. I must have missed the end of your paragraph. Sorry!

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  6. Your imaginary world sounds nice, Thomas. I have a similar imaginary world, except I haven't thought about including a dairy farm. Mine mostly includes a wide variety of heirloom vegetables and fruits.

    The description of "Growing a Farmer" sounds interesting. I'm going to get a copy and give my imaginary world a reality check.

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  7. My dreams are smaller. I dream of having all my crops here produce perfectly every year. Yes a pipe dream I know. Right now if my crops fail I can go to the market. If my living relied on Mother Nature. . . well some days she scares me. My lettuce all dying due to the heat. My peppers with bacterial spot. My winter squash not setting any fruit and I have no clue why. The squirrels stealing my strawberries. You should see my plum tree right now. The aphids did a real number on it. It will live though. Yes Mother Nature can be a bitch at times. But then I eat a fresh tomato from the garden and some fresh corn and keep at it, but I just can't imagine making a living at it. My hat is off to the farmers of the world.

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  8. My dreams are of having a few dairy cows, some dairy goats, lots of other animals, a small orchard, and a csa garden. I guess you could say that I have big dreams! I would love to make cheese if all goes well.

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  9. great videos....farming is becoming a lost art in new england. My wife is originally from Iowa, from visitng and talking to my in-laws I can see it is a hard, but rewarding life

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  10. Those were very compelling videos. Thanks for sharing.

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  11. My in-laws have a farm and orchard and it's so much work, but they love it.

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