What’s the real question?

Fair season is in full swing across the state. It is the same scene in any livestock barn: The cattle are clipped, clean and bedded down in a pile of golden straw, chewing their cud, oblivious to strangers walking behind them. They are in perfect bliss, being waited upon from hooves to mouth. Little do they realize their real job at the fair is to serve as a connecting link between farms and people.

Visitors gawk and point at the pretty “cows” (regardless of the animal’s age or sex). A million questions tumble around in their heads. This is my favorite moment of the fair, seeing inquisitive faces and opening the door to welcome them into our world on the farm.

Fairs and 4-H are great platforms for our children and us to share our world with others. We can answer questions and provide correct information that can’t be found on a Google search or chat box.

After all, how a question is worded will have a huge impact on the answer from Google. The computer has no way of interpreting what is being asked. We can understand what the real question being asked is and meet the consumer where they are.

One time at the state fair, I was watching the milking demonstration with all the other fair-goers. The dairy people did a great job of answering the questions with technical information any dairy farmer would understand and relate to. The problem was that the question being asked wasn’t the “real” question.

Since I didn’t grow up on a dairy farm, I had to learn it as an adult. I recognized what question the fairgoer was really trying to ask. I had the same question when I was learning. They weren’t looking for the farmer’s answer. They just wanted general information to satisfy their curiosity, not to start up their own dairy. They were curious and trusted us with knowing the answer.

When our kids were showing, a family approached our cattle. They all knew the drill of how to invite the family into our world. Let them pet the baby calves. Point out the udder of the milking cow. Use correct terminology. The question asked was, “How does a cow give milk?”

The kids explained a heifer will be about 2 years old when she starts to produce milk, after she has had her first calf. Grandma nodded her head as she made the connection. The daughter was very puzzled, and the young granddaughter didn’t quite understand but really wasn’t interested. Grandma had to remind her daughter of how her body worked after she had delivered her own daughter and started producing milk. She was the heifer. Oh, she finally made the connection.

My radar for interpreting questions must have still been closed for the season this spring. I was asked a question and completely missed the answer.

While I was waiting to pick up my taxes, I popped into the bike shop down the street. The fresh spring day had my mind looking forward to summer rides. I wanted to explore the options of buying my first “real” bike. I wanted one that fit my long legs, one in which I didn’t have to hunch over the handlebars like a Tour de France bicyclist on skinny wheels.

I tried a couple of regular pedal bikes made for mature adults (old kids). It was amazing how finding the right-sized bike made such a difference in my trek down the road on a test ride. I even tried out a couple of e-bikes. I loved the assist up the hills but didn’t know if I was in that “age” category yet. What I did realize was that I wish I had a couple of bull calves to sell to cover the cost of bikes and gear for Mark and me to hit the trails.

As the bike shop owner, Dave, and I talked, our conversation started to shift away from bikes to backgrounds. When he learned I was a dairy farmer, he had a quick question for me: “Do you drink your milk?”

I was careful to answer his question honestly but with caution. Yes, of course we drank the milk straight from the bulk tank. We knew our system and milking procedures. We trusted the quality of our milk, but drinking fresh milk is not for everyone. Dave looked at me puzzled because my answer didn’t fit his whole question.

Apparently, I only heard the first half of his question — do you drink your milk — as I started to formulate the answer. The rest of the question was, “from the bottom of your cereal bowl?”

Now, I had a puzzled face. Of course I drink the milk at the bottom of the bowl. Doesn’t everyone put the bowl up to their lips to slurp the final drops of sugar milk? That was an easy answer.

We have to remember to “hear” the full question and listen for the real question so we can connect with consumers during this fair season.

As their four children pursue dairy careers off the family farm, Natalie and Mark Schmitt are exploring new adventures on the farm outside of the milking barn at their farm north of Rice, Minnesota.