Winter on a Dairy Farm

SMC Maternity Ward, December 2012

Life on a dairy/chicken/crop farm is very difficult in perfect conditions, but add cold, wet, windy or snowy conditions and it takes almost a superhuman to do it. 

Sowers Dairy provides almost all of the raw materials to make the products that South Mountain Creamery delivers to your door. SMC is a one-of-a-kind operation. Along with Sowers Dairy and Sowers Poultry, we do all the work from start to finish. We prepare the fields, fertilize through manure management, plant, nurture, and harvest the crops to feed our animals. Our animals are born and raised here and cared for on the farm 24/7. 

The forecast calls for 12 in. of snow, so what do we do? Same thing we do every day, get the job done, failure is not an option. Fortunately, it’s not something I have to do alone; we have a great team to support our efforts.  We don’t have the luxury of calling sick—the animals must be fed, milked, cared for and loved. 

Snow and Ice on Marker Road, heading toward SMC, February 2014

Plow the snow, dig out the feed, startup cold equipment, put gloves on and take them off. Stop what you’re doing to  assist a cow giving birth. Make sure the little life is good and care for the mother. Back to the feeding—oops power is out! Fire up the generators and make sure everything has power, before I return to feeding. 

Did I mention it is 5 degrees Fahrenheit and the snow is blowing sideways? Now the water is frozen, better find a heater, put a cardboard box around it, and start warming it up. 

Snow is blowing in the barn, better dig out the straw and get to bedding before the animals get cold. Back to the feeding, put in all the ingredients: hay, corn, silage, alfalfa, corn, soymeal, and mineral. Mix them together and wah-lah the feed is made.

Finally done, right? WRONG! That is the first farm, three more to go. Add milking, gathering the eggs, and scraping manure. It is just now sunrise. Do it again, over and over until you’re satisfied the animals have it better than you. Time to go home, it’s been an 18 hour day. Try not to worry about that first calf heifer that looked like she was going into labor and get some sleep. Six hours later, do it again. 

It’s the life we live, and we love to bring you farm fresh products. We are proud to provide you with products that we grow and care for, right here on our family farm.

-Ben Sowers