How many dairy farmers on here?

wi red dairy man · Sep 10, 2015

Just curious how many dairy farmers were on here? We farm 400 acres and milk 35 in west central wi. Little off topic of just dairy farming but my wife told me a neat statistic last night that there were over 250,000 farmers under the age of 34 thought that was pretty neat.

RLA · Sep 10, 2015

I'm involved with 2 men on my Grand dads Old farm Western Pa. 80 head total. 38 milking...

Brown Swiss · Sep 10, 2015

WI Dan · Sep 10, 2015

WI Red - that's a nice sized farm. Small enough to be sane, large enough to feed a family, I suppose?

DairyFarmerInMA · Sep 10, 2015

About 100 total Milking 64 at the moment planning on 10 or so fresh cows the remainder of this month. Primarily Holsteins with 8 or so Brown Swiss and 4 Guernseys. 65 acres of Silage corn and just over 100 acres of Hay. I farm with my Parents here in Eastern MA.
Neat Statistic... all it is seems you hear about is how old the average farmer is. Although it a testament to living a great lifestyle it's also nice to know there's other in my age group perusing a career in Ag.
Thanks for asking I've been curious to also.

coonie minnie · Sep 10, 2015

Milk 340 cows in SE WI.

greg oliver · Sep 10, 2015

I milk nights and weekend's for a young couple. He's 34 and she is 28 and both have jobs. Only have 30 milking and that's enough for me after working construction jobs during the day. I grew up on a dairy farm and sold the cows in 1994 when I was 28. First two pics are me in 1993 and last two are this year.

tractorkrum · Sep 10, 2015

I am a relief milker in West Central Wisconsin (Chippewa Falls). Been milking cows for 43years. The friend that I have been milking for the last 20 or so years, is installing a robotic milker and it will be up and running by the end of the month. Unsure what will happen after that I do not know. May be I will just sit and drink a beer and watch the robot milk the cows. One thing I will not miss is getting slapped in the head with a wet tail.

showcrop · Sep 10, 2015

(quoted from post at 11:07:41 09/10/15) About 100 total Milking 64 at the moment planning on 10 or so fresh cows the remainder of this month. Primarily Holsteins with 8 or so Brown Swiss and 4 Guernseys. 65 acres of Silage corn and just over 100 acres of Hay. I farm with my Parents here in Eastern MA.
Neat Statistic... all it is seems you hear about is how old the average farmer is. Although it a testament to living a great lifestyle it's also nice to know there's other in my age group perusing a career in Ag.
Thanks for asking I've been curious to also.

You must be down around Rehoboth. I don't think that anyone milks cows in Northeast MA anymore. I am in SE NH.

T in NE · Sep 10, 2015

Grew up milking them **** things.
I like beefs better.

centash · Sep 10, 2015

Milked 30 to 35 for almost 30 years on 200 acres til health issues developed. Enjoyed every challenge and success that came with it and made a decent living doing so. Custom feed dairy heifers now, still miss my cows...

Ben

JD John · Sep 10, 2015

I have been milking cows for 30 years this year. Started right out of high school. 35 cows and 250 acres and can't think of anything else I would rather do.

vscummins · Sep 10, 2015

im the mechanic on on a small organic dairy dont even know how many cows we milk and i dont want to know either . i like cows just not the dairy cows well i do like the milk they make thats as close as i want to be to them

wi red dairy man · Sep 10, 2015

It's not bad my wife works off farm yet
for insurance but our goal is another
five years or so to be able have us both
home on the farm. We don't want any more
than forty cows to hard to find help to
give us a night off! Plus I can still get
everything done and make family dinners
tractor pulls and shows and so on. Would
like to buy the neighbor and milk more
cow's and cash crop some more but I can't
manage hired help well and it defeats my
wife and i's main rule on the farm keep
it simple. But your right it's a good
life and we make a decent living. But
most importantly we have time together.

wi red dairy man · Sep 10, 2015

I enjoy seeing the pictures of other folks farm's and their cattle. All four of your pics nice thank you for sharing. Before my parents died I worked out milked for dad and neighbors and helped with all the field work along with custom work and cash cropping in our spare time. It can get to be awful long day and hard life working out and milking. It's good to see how many people on here are still involved in dairy!

wi red dairy man · Sep 10, 2015

Sounds like a great sized family farm! Your right about the age bracket I'm 33 wife is 31 always sounds like we're the minority good to know we're not such a dying breed. For dairy crops we have 50 or so corn for silage and high moisture 60 acres hay ground. Balance is pasture and woods. We could use some extra ground for corn silage so we make due by filling a load of corn then hay to stretch out corn and have enough for high moisture.

wi red dairy man · Sep 10, 2015

Take me 6 days to milk my cows enough times to equal what you milk in one milking! Always thought about expanding but I'm not cut out to manage people. Some days it's almost to much to keep myself in line!

wi red dairy man · Sep 10, 2015

We don't farm to far from chippewa robotic milkers would be sweet save a lot on my back and make it possible to milk a slightly larger herd. Wouldn't mind having a cold one while watching cows milk them selves so to speak. I'm kind of a chicken when it comes to debt though. I like keeping it where if life throws another curve ball like 09 when dad died unexpectedly cows go down the rd bills are paid and family can keep land. Always been scared to go in further than my full herd of cattle is worth. Probably never set any records that way just way I was raised I guess.

WI Dan · Sep 10, 2015

No shame in being responsible. Some people say debt is a "tool" but like any useful tool -- it can really do damage when there's improper use or accident (my mind's eye is picturing a chainsaw :shock: ).

Your comments make me respect you more. Tip of the hat to you! ...keep it simple, appreciate what you have, and always take time for family.

bison · Sep 11, 2015

I milked cows for 30 years on 2 continents.
I never minded milking cows twice a day and never knew how much a slave job it actually was til i had sold the cows.
I could not care less if i never milked another cow as long as i live.

cam.man67 · Sep 11, 2015

Dairy farmer checking in! (Ironically as I'm bringing the cows in for morning milking!

) I'm the 6tj generation to do so, my family has been on these 207 acres since 1889. Lot of changes since the beginning for sure! We've been a 100-head all-jersey, seasonal, no-grain, certified organic dairy since 2005, so it's been a lot of fun!

Ty Kolbe · Sep 11, 2015

I live in east central WI. I'm 34 grew up on a farm, worked on a few farms. Had back surgery 7 weeks ago. I am going to do something else. Haven't missed them yet.

rview_ · Sep 11, 2015

Milked the first 19 years of my life. We had over 80 through the barn most of the time. Started all the calves on bottle, kept one or two in each pen. Also had an additional little over 300 head of beef cows/calves. We put up our own hay, before the drought hit we had enough most of the time. Last year was right after my dad died. Did not make any money, would have had to upgrade the barn (some neighbors did theirs, never made it back).

How many dairy farmers on here?

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