if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

...if it is broke, you better fix it before the next milking. If working on a dairy farm isn't hard enough, just wait until the next thing breaks. Sh*t breaks every day on a dairy farm. If its not one thing, its the other. Today the tractor broke. The tractor is an essential part of a dairy farm. Without the tractor, we can't feed the cows. If we can't feed the cows, they won't make milk. If they don't make milk, no paycheck.

It also is important to get whatever broke fixed before the next milking! For most farms, that is 12 hours, so the pressure is on!! Thankfully our welder could help us out today and try to fix it.

About three weeks ago I arrived for the morning milking at 4:00 a.m. to find a foot of water in the barn!! uh oh! One of the cows kicked the hose off their waterbowl and water slowly filled the barn all night long! We had to call a septic pump truck to come to pump all the water out. Its amazing how many people will pick up the phone or give you a call back immediately when you call at 4:00 a.m.. Within an hour, the farmer had the tuck there, another farm hand, and his entire family there to help with the situation. Thankfully I decided to wear my huge muck boots that day, and milked the cows while standing in a foot of water. The water was gone before I finished the milking, which normally takes about 2 hours. amazing...

Dairy farmers employ a whole host of characters in order to keep the farm running. Mechanics, welders, pump truck (too much water) and water truck (no water) operators, electricians, dairy suppliers, vets, and the list goes on and on... its hard to think about the amount of people who would be out of a job if the VT Dairy Industry got any smaller. Many of these folks have already gone out of business or have been forced to change their business model to enter a new market.

wish us luck for tomorrow. Everyday is an adventure when you're on a farm :)