written by Barb Liebenstein, CommonGround Minnesota volunteer
Who doesn’t love spring? Especially in Minnesota where Mother Nature seems to perform all sorts of tricks, particularly putting all four seasons into one day. If you are from Minnesota, you totally get that statement. Spring is a time for renewal, transition, and growth, and rarely do we think of it as a time for reflection. But really, why can’t it be? How do you make plans for your future without considering what you’ve already done with your past? Have you ever thought about how many times you will make major life changes? And what is a life change anyway?
Let’s suppose our life expectancy is 90 years. For argument’s sake, we can divide that 90 into 3 distinct time periods. 0-30 for our education, 30-60 will be our work history, and after 60 will be the transition to what we’ve always wanted to do when we were no longer working. All that sounds really practical, doesn’t it? But I am here to tell you when you finally hit that last stage (if we are lucky enough to live that long) all of a sudden you will have forgotten you know how to swim or some other analogy that reminds you it’s all easier said than done.
My reflections story for this spring goes something like this. I am a recovering dairy farmer who is very passionate about all things agriculture. CommonGround is an organization that feels the same way. I would say one of the wonderful things about Common Ground and probably our informal motto is, “The more we know each other, the more we know we are more alike than we are different.” It applies to our fellow women farmers, but doesn’t it really apply to all women in all walks of life?
Blogging or any writing should always start with talking about what you know, right? Here’s what I do know. When you marry the cutest single dairy farmer in Rice County, even though you didn’t grow up on a dairy farm, you instantly become, wait for it….a dairy farmer! Who knew such wonderful things could exist? Like raising your family in an environment envied by many and understood by few. Feeding calves before you go anywhere, and making sure the cows are cared for when the weather is bad or an employee is suddenly sick, or it snowed so much they can’t get to work…on Christmas Day. These are just some of the responsibilities of dairy farming. Although Christmas Day was always a day we enjoyed doing chores as a family. Cows are amazing animals but like they say, “the only problem with a dairy cow is she won’t stay milked.” We have had the most amazing experiences on and off the farm because of those beautiful black and white bovines. We had politicians and Miss America visit our farm. We hosted Day on the Farm for 900-1000 of our closest neighbors (4 times). We worked with over 200 employees in a 30-year span, some for just a few months, others for the duration. We have so many stories and memories, all because of the humble dairy cow.
Now it is time to decide where life will lead us next. Not everyone is called to be a second, third, fourth, or more generational dairy farmer. It was with great sadness that we said goodbye to our dairy cows in November of 2023. It may amaze you to know that when you get up every day and have a plan (even though some days those plans were blown totally out of the water), the day you DON’T have to do much of anything is not as pleasant as it may sound. As we search for and learn a new routine, we do it without the intensity we once had. CS Lewis once said, “You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.” OK, maybe he was right… but what if you were so busy living your busy life you didn’t have other goals or dreams? It would be awesome if you could walk into Menard’s and go to the hardware department and grab a new goal or dream off the shelf. Unfortunately, we know life doesn’t work that way. I do want to acknowledge here that there are people who have been waiting for just a moment like this, when they can say I have the chance to move to the next chapter and they have the plans already formulated as to what that looks like. Those are the people I admire and aspire to be like. However, I know it may take a little while for us to find that peace and serenity.
Think about it as you are reflecting on spring. There comes a time when we all change trajectory. Where will the next 30 or so years take us? Could we be successful raising beef cows? It’s definitely different than milking cows. After all, the calf is the one who does the milking and it’s on the cow’s own schedule. Beef cows might calve on a beautiful sunny day in a grass pasture or it may be just as likely be on a wet, snowy muddy day out on a pile of corn stalks. Compare that to the dairy cow, who normally calves in a maternity pen in a nice dry barn. Maybe crop farming? Previously we raised all of our crops to feed dairy cows. It had to be harvested precisely at the right time for optimum feed value. Does it work the same for corn and soybeans? I guess that is something we are going to find out. Dry hay was always the trickiest of crops because it had to be cut, dried and baled all as efficiently as possible. Not always an easy task. And because we still need a reason to get up in the morning our new life looks like we will get up and feed the beef cows, check the crops, put up hay and maybe help our daughter with her next adventure, Christmas Tree Farming. The entrepreneurial spirit didn’t fall far from the tree. The other opportunity I have is to help my sister. She owns the greenhouse I grew up in and needs help getting ready for her busy season. Which just so happens to be in the spring, but I digress.
This brings us full circle back to spring being a time for transition. Albert Einstein said, “The more you learn, the more you realize how much you don’t know.” With that said you have 2 options: keep learning something new, or don’t. The choice is yours, but from experience I would say the former is much more satisfying than the latter. Maybe the path and plan isn’t perfect but with the right attitude and patience it will become clear. And as we patiently wait for the spring to come into full bloom, we can contemplate where the season will take us.
Barb Liebenstein and her husband Paul own and operate Wolf Creek Dairy in Dundas, MN. They are currently transitioning from dairy to beef, corn, soybean and hay crops.
