Working with dairy farmers

We are considerably privileged to be dairy farming in a part of Minnesota with strong agricultural infrastructure.

When we started out dairy farming in northern Minnesota, we had access to one dairy cooperative, a couple of feed mills within an hour’s drive radius, zero dairy equipment dealerships, and zero dairy veterinarians. Moving to Stearns County with all of its dairy-allied businesses was like moving to a new country – at least for me. For Glen, who grew up accustomed to such convenience, it was a relief to have the support of a robust ag-minded business community once again.

Now, our vendors include four different dairy genetics companies, two crop inputs cooperatives, and two dairy supply companies. We’re down to purchasing from two feed mills – for several years it was three. In short, we went from working with just a few allied dairy professionals to working with many.

Over the years, we’ve worked with dozens of such professionals and continue to refine what we value in those relationships. I won’t speak for all dairy farmers, but I suspect dairy farmers are more alike than we are different. Here’s what has become important to us over the past 20 years:

– Show up with a positive attitude. If you’re visiting for an unplanned repair or a veterinary emergency or a plugged manure pipe, we’re potentially already in a less-than-positive frame of mind. Your positive attitude, patience and kindness can be just the balm we need to make a bad day better.

– Indulge our children’s curiosity. Our kids are innately interested in our business and dairy cows, in general. They ask countless questions. Please do your best to answer their questions in a way that reflects the passion that brought you to this line of work. Remember, they could be your future customers.

– Ask who the decision maker is. Several years ago, a young salesman showed up here and asked to speak with the person in charge of calf nutrition. I might have stared at him slightly slack-jawed for a moment before composing myself. Up until then, every other salesperson who had visited our farm stepped out of his or her truck and asked to speak with Glen. I told him that I took care of feeding calves and he proceeded to tell me about the calf starter he was promoting. I was interested enough to do a side-by-side trial with his starter and the brand we were currently feeding. After seeing that our calves preferred the pelleted starter to the texturized, we switched. We’ve been feeding that starter ever since. Open mindedness begets open mindedness.

– Be willing to speak to both of us. Glen and I most certainly maintain a divide-and-conquer approach to the multitude of dairy farming tasks, but we both know what’s happening on our farm and we make all major decisions together.

– Please don’t be offended when we seek out the best pricing for a product or service. I know there were times when dairy farmers were exceedingly loyal to singular providers, regardless of price. Maybe some farms still are. We are not. We are operating with extremely thin margins. We are also always looking for the best possible solution, whether that’s a sire or a feed additive or another of the innumerable products and services we need to keep our business successful. Please be content with us giving you a portion of our business; the alternative could be none.

– Drive slowly in our yard. This is less critical now than it was when we had small children toddling here and there or peddling their little bicycles in our driveway. But, we still have a number of small animals frequently traversing the space and none of us like to see our pets squished by impatient tires. We are all perpetually short on time; speeding into or out of our yard will not help you squeeze more work into your day.

– Trust our knowledge of our cows, our land and our business, and you’ll earn our trust. Most of our waking hours are devoted to better observing, understanding, and caring for our creatures and crops. We constantly strive to learn more. A good part of our knowledge and understanding has come from the dairy professionals we do business with – or have in the past. If we’ve asked for your help, please approach your time with us with a partnership mentality.

In closing, to all of the agricultural professionals who work with us now or have worked with us in the past, thank you. Your support is invaluable. Even when you see us on our worst days, please know that we are grateful to have a business community to lean on.