Women in Dairy: Melissa Pietig

Tell us about your family and farm. Our farm has grown and changed quite a bit in the past few years. My parents raised four of us kids on a dairy near Sleepy Eye, and after pursuing our college educations, one of my brothers returned to manage the dairy with my dad. I spent five years at an exceptional neighboring dairy, doing herdsman work, working with the parlor crew and overseeing the embryo program for the elite genetics of the farm. My husband was in feed sales and was also finishing beef cattle together with his uncle. Through that time, we grew at the home dairy from about 100 cows to 275 and had added two nutrition research hog sites, as well as finishing the crossbred cattle.

We were at a crossroads, looking to update, as our parlor at the time (double-8 herringbone) was nearing 30 years old, but we needed to decide what direction to take our operation. The farm I had worked with prior to building our pig sites had reached out, as the family there was looking to retire and transition and didn’t have a family member taking over. We worked together to find a solution that worked for everyone, and in 2022, took over that dairy and combined our dairy/hogs/beef/crops into Lax Pietig Family Farms.

The cows are milked at the dairy near Fairfax in a double-16 parallel parlor. The dairy heifer calves are raised on pasteurized milk via Urban auto feeders, and the beef calves are raised by the grower who was caring for the calves previously. The dairy site I grew up on now houses all the young stock and pregnant heifers, and we have feedlot cattle and the pigs on the farm where my husband and I now reside.

Our operation encompasses my parents, my brother, my husband, me and about 25 full- and part-time employees, many of whom are also extended family members. My husband and I have been married for 12 years. Our “first crop” is our 11-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son, and we recently started our “second crop” with a baby boy who joined us this past January.

What is a typical day like for you on the dairy? That’s a loaded question. It really depends on what is going on. My main focus is overseeing the nutrition trials in the swine barns, but I also work in the dairy office doing some of the accounting and human resources, scheduling, ordering and training.

What decision have you made in the last year that has benefited your farm? Our management team has gone all in on manager training and professional development. We work with a consulting group that specializes in family and farm business development. As we grow, we need to be dedicated to growing our people, too. By sharpening our people and training skills, we’re building an incredibly strong team that we are incredibly proud of — and our shop has never been more organized.

Tell us about your most memorable experience working on the farm. The first fall that we made silage at the new site, to see all of our newly combined crew working together to cover silage pile. It’s always a hard and hot job to get done, but it was really neat to finally see everyone from both operations come together.

What have you enjoyed most about dairy farming or your tie to the dairy industry? Giving tours and hosting open house events and school groups is always fun. People really are genuinely interested in where their food comes from, and it’s rewarding to be able to share our level of quality cow care and comfort. Kindergarten students always have the best questions.

What is your biggest accomplishment in your dairy career? I took Spanish all through high school and spent some time in Costa Rica on an exchange trip as a teen. My experience in conversational Spanish was one of the factors that landed me a job in the parlor, working with both English and Spanish speakers. I also learned how to ultrasound and became proficient at reading ovaries and understanding cattle repro to make real-time decisions and optimal results for our flush animals (embryo transfers).

What are things you do to promote your farm or the dairy industry? I’m involved with our county American Dairy Association board and some of the events we participate in throughout the year. This year, our farm sponsored a 4-H student who put together a seminar on grain bin safety for area farmers and first responders.

What advice would you give another woman in the dairy industry? Always be open to creative opportunities. Never be afraid to put yourself out there and try something new. Don’t settle for average. You never know where it might lead you.

What is a challenge in the dairy industry you have faced and how did you overcome it? There are many. Dairy farming is not for the faint of heart; there is commodity pricing, labor, regulations, market volatility and animal diseases. I think the biggest thing that holds farmers back is the phrase, “We’ve always done it this way.” I can say firsthand that being open to doing something differently may be the best gift you can give yourself. Our operation thrives on diversifying; managing two swine research barns or taking over an existing dairy was not anything we would have seen for ourselves 10 years ago.

When you get a spare moment, what do you do? There’s no such thing as a spare moment, am I right? Most of my spare time is spent going to or from or taking in my kid’s activities. It was sure a busy summer with baseball, softball, camps, music lessons, swimming and 4-H. We also do quite a bit of “close-by” camping and lake things. My husband and his friends recently dusted off his 40-year-old speed boat, and that has been a lot of fun.