Barn full of memories: Don and Liz Mayer

What year did you start farming and what year did you retire? I have been farming since I was 5 years old. I spent the early years of my life working for successful farms across Wisconsin until 1990, when we bought our farm and milked until we sold the cows in 2021.

Tell us about your farm when you started and describe what it looked like when you retired, including how many cows you milked when you retired? We bought an old farm settlement with 6.5 acres, updated the barn, redid sheds for youngstock instead of machinery, built a Harvestore silo and put up a new garage and farm office. We did not expand any buildings. My wife, Liz, put her heart into landscaping and planting trees. We were milking 65 head when we retired and sold the cows. Today, our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter raise heifers here.

What were some of the big advancements you made during your career? We bred and developed over 300 Excellent cows during my career, sold bulls into A.I., exported hundreds of embryos overseas, developed two 95-point cows, were honored with the Wisconsin Holstein Association’s title of Distinguished Breeder in 2018, and above all else, we raised our family on a dairy farm.

What did you love about milking cows? I loved spending time with my family, breeding the herd and developing young cows.

What was the highlight of your dairy career? Owning and developing Golden Oaks Mark Prudence and Whittier-Farms Lead Mae and generations of their offspring were highlights, along with hosting foreign visitors at the farm during World Dairy Expo and being a feature speaker for World Wide Sires in Europe for a week.

What is the biggest challenge you faced in your career and how did you overcome it? We should have bought more land to expand our milking herd, but by staying on the smaller end, we had more time for each individual cow.

If there is one thing you wished you could have done differently during your farming career, what would it be? I wish we would have bought more land when we originally bought the farm. We put more energy and time into the herd. A little more land would have reaped some benefit.

What piece of equipment or technology has been introduced that you wish you had for your dairy career? Looking back, in a 60-cow herd, there have not been many advancements in the last five years that would have proved to be a positive investment for us.

What do you miss most about dairy farming? I miss the challenge of breeding the next generation and developing cows to their top potential. I enjoyed the feeling of bringing a young cow home and imagining how she would turn out one day.

What advice would you give to a young farmer today? I would encourage young people to work at several farms to gain experience, learn new skills and broaden their horizons.

What is your tie to the dairy industry today? I truck cattle, helping farms relocate cattle; buy and sell cows for farms; and help people coordinate their cattle’s relocation plan. I still enjoy lifelong friendships from around the world that the cows have brought to me.

Was retiring an easy or hard decision/transition? We knew it was time; we were getting older, our family was growing up, and I had been sourcing cattle for people for five years. I had a way to stay involved; I was set.

What have you been doing since you retired? I retired from dairy farming, but I still work for Alfalawn Farm several days a week. I’m very fortunate to have had a smooth transition into my new day-to-day life. Liz has kept herself busy with grandkids, taking care of our golden retrievers and lab puppies and working at the local deli.