A family network of help

Gill Dairy receives Century Farm recognition

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ALBANY, Minn. — Gill Dairy knows what it means to be a family farm.

“The big theme here is that we are all about family,” Jerry Gill said. “Mom and Dad had 10 kids and all but two live close. I can call my siblings and nephews and they will be here in 10 minutes.”

This summer, Gill Dairy of Albany was recognized as a century farm by the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, the Minnesota State Fair and Stearns History Museum.

Jerry milks 58 cows in a tiestall barn, raises 80-90 head of youngstock and farms 150 acres at Gill Dairy.

“I am here every day but there is always someone else here,” Jerry said. “Some of my siblings or nephews are here too. There are four nephews in their 20s and 30s that help out consistently.”

Jerry’s 85-year-old father, Tom Jr., plays an active role on the farm by taking care of the bookwork. They both live in the house that was built in the 1800s.

The farm was originally purchased by Ben and John Woebkenberg in 1911. They farmed 150 acres until their nephew, Tom Gill Sr., married Gertrude Gill and purchased the farm in 1933. In 1973, Tom Gill Sr. passed the farm onto his son, Tom Gill Jr., and his wife, Genevieve Gill. In 2000, Tom Jr. and Genevieve passed the farm to their son, Jerry Gill.

During that time, modifications were made to the farm including building a new brick barn in 1950 after the origina was destroyed in a fire that claimed the lives of all the cattle inside.

“They built the new barn to milk 20 cows at first and everyone thought Grandpa (Tom Sr.) was nuts for taking on 20 cows,” Jerry said. “That barn was one of the first barns that Worms Lumber in New Munich built. They still have a picture of it in their business.”

In the 1980s, the brick barn was remodeled from 20 stalls to 36 stalls and a pipeline was installed. In 2008, an additional 22 stalls were added to the barn and a manure pit was added. A new heifer facility was constructed in 2011 that holds up to 68 head.

Through the modifications and additions, the Gill family helped each other out, whether there was corn or alfalfa needing to be harvested or cleaning up the farm to host a nephew’s wedding reception.

“Sometimes we get a dozen (people) to come out like when a load of straw comes,” Jerry said. “Everybody helps out.”

This continues to ring true for the rest of the month of October, while Jerry recovers from having his second hip replacement. Jerry’s brother, Joe Gill, will do morning chores and Jerry’s nephews, Cole, Luke, Zach and Isaac Zink, will take care of evening chores for five weeks.

Jerry had his first hip replaced last year, and at the time,
had help from three local youth – Kyle Boeckermann, Trevin Wohletz and Ethan Gerads.
Ethan started working on the farm when he was 13 years old. At 16, he led the other boys and started to do milkings on his own before tragically passing away three days after Jerry returned to farming full-time.

“He really loved (farming),” Jerry said. “He didn’t grow up on a farm but his mom reached out because he had such a strong interest in farming. He was talking about going to Ridgewater College for an ag degree.”

Today, many of the Gill children hold careers in the agriculture industry due to their interest from growing up on the farm.

“Some of the other kids liked farming too, but the farm wasn’t big enough to support more than one family,” Tom Jr. said. “By the time I was ready to be done, the other boys all had good jobs in town.”

Jerry said that while his siblings hold full-time jobs off the farm, they are glad they grew up on the farm and are always willing to help.

“It was nice to raise the family (on the farm),” Tom Jr. said. “I’d do it again.”

Jerry agreed.

“Working with family, there are days where things aren’t perfect,” Jerry said. “But as a family, we hug it out and keep going. This place means so much to all of us because we all grew up here.”

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