There was one night after we painted that we managed to convince the Milkman to take a break. There wasn't much we could do with wet walls and Mrs. Fancy Pants (she's in a band) was singing at a restaurant in town. The Milkmaids were missing daddy pretty bad and we couldn't wait to get around to go eat and enjoy a little quality time together. We had a quick stop at Lowe's to get some odds and ends we needed to work on the barn and went on to the restaurant. The Milkmaids had a blast! We met Fancy Pants and Baby Fancy Pants (for real, ruffles and a huge bow) and ate and enjoyed our night. The Milkman struggled to keep his eyes open, but we had a good night. It was a really bright spot in the journey that I know we will all remember.
The barn still needs lots of work before it is done. The bathroom and break room have to be built in and finished, there isn't any shelving, and the wall around the milk tank isn't finished. There is a lot of painting that needs to be done and there is only one door. The other door still has to be finished. We have to get some heating put in before winter and the back sliding doors where the mommas come in and out have to be built and installed. There is still a long way to go. But the mommas are here! All the equipment is working and we are all glad that we survived!
I just can't get over how much we learned about ourselves and others. How people around us stepped up to make sure we made it through and helped us move forward. It is humbling to have seen it all unfold. Life would have been simpler if the barn hadn't burnt, but I think the experience was worth going through.
There are around 70 dairies in the state of Arkansas. That's it. Most people would have sold the mommas and threw in the towel. Cattle prices at the sale barn aren't shabby right now, but we couldn't do it. We have 40 years of hand chosen genetics in our herd. We couldn't stand the thought of our mommas going across the scales and auctioned off. The industry is doing pretty good right now, but it never lasts. Dairying is hard and if you want to do it you suffer through some unimaginably hard times. But the Milkman is intent on spending his life doing what he loves and I am intent on being right beside him. The thought of not having our farm anymore isn't a thought we had.
We have suffered through some extremely tough years. Input costs are beyond imaginable to keep a dairy running. We buy commodities (corn, hominy, distiller's grain, cottonseed, etc) at retail. We buy alfalfa (because we can't grow enough good quality here) at retail. We buy all of our land management supplies that allow us to produce our own forages at retail. Any supplies we get on the farm, in the barn, or for the cows is all at retail cost. We sell our milk at a price set by factors we have no control over. We are at the mercy of the weather and the pricing orders that are beyond understanding. When the rain doesn't come and the corn crop is poor, we pay top dollar for the feed we need. When there is too much moisture and the alfalfa can't be put up or it's too dry and there isn't enough to cut, we pay top dollar for that too. When we are dry and can't put up our own forage we are at the mercy of the market to purchase what we couldn't produce. We never know what the year will hold or if we will even make a dime.
The price you pay for a gallon of milk has no true reflection of what they pay me for a raw product at wholesale price. There are lots of middle men that get their cut. Another factor in our ability to make a profit is regulations. The agencies that regulate and put the rules in place don't always understand what they are regulating and I'm not sure they care. We pay fees and permit costs every year just to be able to farm. They are always changing requirements. And anytime they make very big changes we get to pay for whatever upgrades they require. Out of pocket. There are programs that give monetary assistance to comply, sometimes. They never cover 100% of the cost and they require tons of paperwork and phone tag and farm visits, but we do everything we can to help alleviate some of the stress on our income.
Some years are good. The weather cooperates, feed costs are tolerable, and milk prices are acceptable. Those years aren't near often enough, but we appreciate them when they come around. This year The Lord has blessed us with good milk prices and enough feed (so far) and we are so thankful. If we were having another 2009 (dairymen just pretend that year didn't exist) we would have had to sell out. We could have never been able to rebuild and keep our mommas. We are just beyond grateful for God having a plan that kept us milking.
I can't say enough "Thank Yous" to anyone and everyone that showed up to help, to the other farmers that milked our cows and allowed a facility for them, to everyone that read about us and prayed, to those who helped in every way imaginable. There aren't words....
We are so glad to be back. When you drink your milk (which I hope is often), eat your ice cream, add cheese or butter I hope you take a second and think about what goes into dairying. We work tirelessly to get it from our house to your table.
What can you accomplish in 30 days? With lots of help, we did the unimaginable.
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