A passion for problem solving

BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — As patrons turn the corner of Main Street and head to Little Vinny’s in downtown Black River Falls, they can see a piece of Jackson County history painted on the brick exterior. The mural tells the story of one family, the Peasleys, who have been dairy farming since 1876.

This summer, Peasley Dairy Farm celebrated its sesquicentennial, and the mural received a facelift. It was repainted to include the names of Will and Kelsey Peasley, who have been farming with Will’s parents, David and Tammy, since Will’s return from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2015.

The Peasleys milk 75 cows in a 60-stall tiestall barn along with full-time employee, Antonio Mendez, who has been with the farm for 21 years. Will also works an off-farm job with Norgaard Agency Inc.

“I enjoy the challenge of problem solving,” Will said. “I like analyzing what we’re doing and seeing if we can pull this lever or tweak this; how can that change our outcome. The challenge of farming intrigues me and seeing those real-world results is what energizes me.”

One of the changes Will brought to the operation was making the move to organic when he returned from college. He used his farm as a case study on evolving from conventional to organic and discovered what the results could yield for him, his father and Mendez.

“For my senior year capstone, I wrote about why our family farm should transition to organic,” Will said. “I talked it through with my professor and did a financial analysis. As I was preparing to come back home, I told my dad that if he wanted me to return to the farm, we were going to need to start the process of becoming organic. He agreed but said he was calling the co-op to spray the fields one more time the next day.”

Making the switch to organic was how Will would make his own mark on Peasley Dairy Farm. During his last year at UW-Madison, Will left the capital city for work experience in Chile. He worked for Best Feed Chile, a nutrition and consulting company for dairy farms that focuses on pasture and grazing.

“I had this preconceived notion that grazing meant smaller cattle,” Will said. “When I was in Chile, I saw their dairy industry and their large, strong Holstein herds that are all out on pasture. I thought I could bring that back to our own farm.”

During the changeover to organic, the Peasleys constructed a bridge to connect the barns and buildings to the fields they have now converted to pastures.

“I knew if we could just get them over the creek, it would open up everything,” Will said. “There was a mental shift that needed to take place. We started treating it like a crop rather than just pasture that’s continuously grazed.”

Peasley Dairy Farm has changed a lot over the course of its 150-year history. The farm started with Will’s great-great-great-grandfather, who also ran a halfway house, serving travelers moving through western Wisconsin. The next generation was the home of a threshing crew, and Will’s great-grandfather, Donald Peasley, added a strawberry field as a way to diversify income.

“We have journals from my great-great grandpa and the notes he took about the work they did for each neighbor,” Will said. “He was essentially a custom operator of that time.”

With each generation, challenges of balancing the dairy with the responsibilities of life beyond the farm continued to persist. For Will, the sixth generation to work the family operation, that balance means juggling a career in insurance with the daily demands of the farm and his role as a husband and father.

“Sometimes my insurance job carries over after hours; sometimes it’s the farm that carries over into insurance hours,” Will said. “And I always have the pull to be helpful to my kids and my wife. Trying to do all those things to the expectation I have for myself, that balance is tough. There are times when you need to put parameters on when you leave the barn or office.”

As Will and Kelsey raise the seventh generation of Peasleys on the farm, Will looks to model his father’s leadership for the next generation.

“My dad took a unique approach with my siblings and me,” Will said. “He always told us that there were a lot of careers out there and we should all pursue our interests. For me, that was like reverse psychology. I’ve always had an interest in the farm, and the problem-solving aspect of dairy farming is what keeps me coming back.”

The organic dairy will continue to operate as it has since Will returned to the farm, with a focus on grazing and seeing what tweaks and adjustments can be made to help the farm operate at peak efficiency. Doing that also opens the door for the next generation to leave their mark on the farm, just as past generations of Peasleys have done.

“We won’t make any big changes or new buildings for a while,” Will said. “I want to delay that decision for the next generation. We feel very blessed to be able to continue the tradition of dairying in Wisconsin.”