A few days ago when I first was starting my chores for the day, I felt a cool breeze come in from the north and I thought to myself, here comes fall. It's hard to believe that the summer is coming to a close. In about two months, we will start to see our first flakes of snowfall. Before we know it the leaves will be turning, the tourists will be flocking, the birds will be flying south, and the farmers will be preparing for winter. This summer has not been the greatest year for dairy farmers in VT. Many of us had a very late start cutting hay, planting corn, and putting cows out to pasture. Because of our extremely wet spring, farmers are praying for an "indian summer" which is a term used for a warm fall, in order to get one more cut of hay in and give the corn enough time to grow before the first frost.
I can't believe its been two months since my last post, the farm is doing alright for the obstacles mother nature threw at us this spring. We've had a string of really strong, big and healthy heifer calves which gives me hope as we enter the colder months. The pastures are starting to recover from the wet conditions this spring, but a lot of work will have to be done this fall to reseed and prepare the pastures for a great growing season next year.
I've been dairy farming for about a year and a half and I feel like I'm finally starting to get the whole picture of our multi-million dollar operation. I am the farm manager now and have picked up a lot more responsibility running the farm. My bosses are getting closer and closer every day to opening Green Mountain Organic Creamery, and organic processing and bottling plant for our milk. The creamery will give the farm a higher price for our milk, and help us turn a livable profit. I am so excited and proud that our milk will be on the shelves of our local stores under our own label, and once the creamery gets going, I will hopefully be doing some work in sales and marketing.
I really do love my job. Some days when I'm covered in poo, and having a hard day with the cows I may say I hate it, but I don't. Nothing is more fulfilling than working the land, it's a really good life we live.
