Women in Dairy: Caroline Peterson

Tell us about your family and farm. My husband, Gene, and I have two daughters: Christina, who is 16 and has special needs, and Cortnee, who is 13. Gene is the third generation of his family on the farm. In addition to the cows, we farm 400 acres. The girls have a few show pigs and a few dairy and meat goats that they show, too, as well as some chickens and steers.

What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? Like most farms, there isn’t truly a typical day, but on an average day, we typically head out to start chores around 5 a.m. During the school year, Cortnee goes out around 6 a.m. and milks her goats before school. We start chores again, usually between 5-5:30 p.m. Now, during summer, I have the girls, so that fills up my days pretty well. Christina recently had foot surgery, so right now, I need to take her to physical therapy three times a week. I am also the co-leader of our 4-H club.

What decision have you made in the last year that has benefited your farm? We just keep trying to go day by day, making the best, most informed decisions we can to try and keep both our input costs and debt as low as we can. We try to evaluate and determine what the return or benefit of something will be before spending money.

Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. One of the more memorable experiences was hosting the 2009 Portage County Dairy Breakfast. It is memorable because the day they came and asked if we wanted to host was the day Christina was born. Gene had just pulled in the driveway, coming home to do chores. They were flying Christina to Rochester, Minnesota, and my mother and I were on our way, driving there. He was not sure what to say at first, and he told them to give us a couple of weeks to see what happened with Christina. We decided to host it because we felt like it was an honor to be asked. Christina was just six months old when we had the breakfast. A more recent memorable experience was having our first-ever set of triplet calves born May 13 — two heifers and a bull. The bull was by himself, and the two heifers are almost completely identical to each other, so we are hoping they will turn out. We also took some animals to Cortnee’s school this year for a career day type program. We took a cow, goats, pigs and our turkey, Fred; plus, we made butter with the kids. The kids at school loved that, and it was enjoyable for us to let her take the lead in sharing about them and telling about life on the farm.

What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? I married into it. I didn’t grow up on the farm, but Gene has been farming his entire life, and I know he appreciates the value of being your own boss and doing the work for yourself. There are a lot of positives to being on the farm, despite the challenges. For me, I am happy we can raise our girls here on the farm. It teaches them responsibility and a lot about life.

What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? Right now, I think the biggest accomplishment is that we are still here, still dairy farming. It is not always easy, with milk prices the way they are and the cost of everything else being so high. We are at a point where this is what we can handle without too much extra help. We have a high school kid who comes in and helps with the milking. Robots are not something we can really consider right now because we are at an age where the investment does not make sense without knowing if there will be a next generation, and Cortnee is only 13, so there is no way to know that now.

What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? Besides hosting the dairy breakfast back in 2009, we try to do things like taking animals to Cortnee’s school to share about dairy farming and the industry. The girls are both in 4-H and show their animals at both the Amherst and Rosholt fairs, where they can talk to people about farming, taking care of their animals and how nutritious dairy products are.

What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? I would remind them that, even though sometimes they might feel like it, they are not alone. There are lots of us dairy farm women and moms out there. I would remind them that, even though there are times they might feel like they are a single parent, they are not, and I would tell them there just is never enough time in the day to accomplish everything you think you should be accomplishing, so you need to really look back on your day and find the things you did accomplish and take victory in that. It might be something small, but you can find something in every day. You have to give yourself some grace and realize you cannot do everything all the time.

What is a challenge in the dairy industry you have faced, and how did you overcome it? Certainly, low milk prices, and they are now combined with high input prices, which have always been challenging. We have dealt with some health challenges over the years, along with the challenges we have faced with Christina, too.

When you get a spare moment, what do you do? Some days, it is hard to get a spare moment, but I like to sew and teach my kids to sew. I have a new sewing machine I have not gotten set up yet that operates with start and stop buttons, which will make it easier for Christina to be able to sew. I also like to crochet, do some crafting and cook. I enjoy watching my kids participate in 4-H and exhibit their projects at the fair. I enjoy working with the kids in our 4-H club; that is kind of my adrenaline rush. I used to work as a cardiac intensive care unit nurse, so I sometimes miss that rush of working in those situations with patients, when you know you have been successful at helping them. Working with the kids is kind of like that — you know you are doing something that will impact them and make a difference in their lives.