From farmhand to farmer

FORT ATKINSON, Wis. — Terisa Schmidt was studying to be a nurse when her career path took an unexpected turn. With no prior dairy experience, she took a part-time job milking cows. That job ignited a passion for the dairy industry and set Schmidt in a new direction.

“I always loved animals,” Schmidt said.

Today, Schmidt milks 18 cows in a stanchion barn at Cool Rock Acres Dairy near Fort Atkinson. This first-generation dairy farmer bought her first cow in February. She hopes to be milking nearly 40 cows by next spring.

“It’s been overwhelming the amount of support I have received from the farming community,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt starts each day early on the farm, where her dog, Snake, is her right-hand man, and her two daughters, Arianna and Claire,
help her keep the place running. Schmidt rents the farm from a retired dairy farmer, Ron Rew.

“I’m really thankful he gave me this opportunity,” Schmidt said. “I really didn’t think this was ever going to happen. I thought I was just going to keep working for somebody else, be a herdsman, and I was content with that. But this has been really cool.”

Schmidt began renting the farm with the intention of raising calves until she came across a small Guernsey named Paisley. Paisley had just freshened when Schmidt saw her at a sale barn.

“She still had blood on her tail and was a skinny fuzzball,” Schmidt said. “I paid $622 for her. Now she’s beautiful and milking well. I couldn’t be more proud to have her here. She started it all.”

Not afraid to take on a challenge, many of Schmidt’s cows are cull cows.

“I like to call them rescues,” she said. “I feel like I know cows pretty well, so I can look at a cow and be like, she has a sore foot or a big udder, but I can work with that. Milk cows are so expensive right now, and that’s why I don’t have very many. I’ll take a chance on a good deal here and there. My farm is full of misfits, but they’re really a great group of cows.”

Schmidt spent time tidying up the farm and making updates to the barn, such as replacing the pipeline, before she could sell milk. On June 17, Schmidt shipped her first load with Family Dairies USA. She was milking nine cows at the time.

“I’ve gone through so many ups and downs since February,” Schmidt said. “There were days I said, ‘I’m going to quit. I can’t do this anymore.’ Then I go to bed and wake up, and I’m like, I really do want to do this.”

Schmidt’s boyfriend, Austin Naber, helps her make hay from about 70 acres of owned and rented land, while Schmidt buys her remaining feed.

Schmidt did not get her start in dairy until 2017, when she landed on a farm near Sullivan owned by Bob Froehlich.

“I knew nothing about cows,” Schmidt said. “I like to think that Bob taught me everything he knew.”

Nine months after she started, Schmidt found herself managing the farm when Bob needed surgery on his foot.

“I went from not knowing how to milk a cow or drive a tractor to managing 130 cows and 100 heifers,” Schmidt said. “I did everything except for the crops. It was a sink-or-swim situation. He taught me how to drive a tractor the day before he had surgery. I could barely drive a stick shift car when I started milking, and now I can drive pretty much anything.”

Since then, Schmidt has worked on several dairy farms and gained experience in all kinds of setups, including tiestall barns, parlors and robots. For the past six years, she has worked for Bill Stade Jr. who has registered Holsteins.

In addition, Schmidt has worked for Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales in Johnson Creek for two years. She also works as a cattle dealer, buying, selling and raising calves. She gives horseback riding lessons and is a part-time orchestra teacher at a private school where she provides violin lessons.

“Most of my money goes for buying cows,” Schmidt said.

At a sale, she once purchased a Jersey that could barely walk due to a pinched nerve in her back.

“I saw potential in her,” she said. “I gave her steroids for a few days, and I haven’t had a single problem with her. She has a low cell count and is milking great. I paid pennies for her, and I’m very glad I gave her a chance. She’s a great animal.”

Schmidt said she is known for giving troubled animals a second chance.

“It’s a high when I’m able to take a cow from a sale barn that someone was going to turn into a hamburger and bring her here and turn her into a ginormous puppy dog,” Schmidt said. “I do it with calves too. I’ve taken calves that we had to carry through the sale ring, and in a couple days, they’re doing great.”

Not every cow becomes a success story, however.

“Sometimes I have to send one back,” Schmidt said. “For example, I bought a beautiful Jersey with a nice udder, but we found out really quick why she was at the sale barn. She kicked like you would not believe. I do have to think about safety.”

Schmidt was milking up to 25 cows but had to let a couple go due to high somatic cell count. Her average SCC is now between 20,000-40,000.

“I decided that quality over quantity was what I wanted to do,” she said.

Schmidt said her previous experience as a medic in the emergency room and being on a nursing career path have come in handy for identifying and treating sick animals and performing other veterinary tasks.

“Human health translates quite easily to cows,” she said. “I have a really good relationship with my vet, and I bounce ideas off of her.”

Schmidt’s mom is a nurse practitioner, and Schmidt said she followed in her mother’s go-getter footsteps.

“My mom was a waitress when she had me, and she worked her way through nursing school,” Schmidt said. “Now, she has a doctor of nursing practice degree.”

The first calf born on Schmidt’s farm came Sept. 29. The arrival of the Holstein heifer made Schmidt very happy, she said.

“Every day, I like getting up and coming out here and seeing what mischief the cows have gotten into,” Schmidt said. “I love to learn, and I love working with my nutritionist and learning why we feed cows what we do.”

Schmidt said she is dedicated to growing her herd as economically as possible while giving her cows a good home.

“I love the fact I’m showing my daughters that you can do anything,” Schmidt said. “When I was in high school, I wanted to be a lawyer, then I wanted to be a nurse, and now here I am, a dairy farmer.”