The farmers’ network Unearthing the Future BBCStoryWorks

No generation wants to be the generation that loses a family farm. So with the pride and the legacy comes a tremendous amount of pressure to carry on that tradition and to do it well. I'm not your typical farm girl raised on a farm. I was actually a city girl. Went to high school where I met a country boy. He caught my eye just because he was so different. Travis was talking about cows and crops and land. I fell in love with the boy, but I also fell in love with the land and I fell in love with the animals and the lifestyle. We are running about 2,300 organic acres. We are very lucky to have four generations and any one day working together. Farming is difficult. There is a lot of mental stress. You never know what's in store for you when you put your boots on in the morning. Well, this photo is cool. They always talk about how much they baled hay when they were younger. Oh, your dad climbing over the gate. My father-in-law was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and was told he could no longer farm. My husband at the time was 16 years old. He decided that he wanted to continue the family legacy of farming. We needed a new way of farming. We did not want to spray pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers on our farm and Organic Valley offered us a pathway to be able to do that in a more sustainable way. If you're a conventional farmer, the longest walk you have every month is to your mailbox to see what you got paid for your milk for that month because you had no idea. Conventional dairy pricing is determined by the market that goes up and down. We decided we didn't want to be part of that system. So we have a farmer-determined pay price that is annually determined by the membership subcommittees and the board of directors. We'll call the cows and they'll come up into the lane and then we'll bring them across up into this paddock across the road. Moss, moss, moss. Organic Valley is a farmer-run cooperative that helps the producers transition to organics and we provide a stable price for our farmers. Basically the heart of organics is your soils. The farmer works to build healthy soils and healthy soils create healthy feed which will then have healthy animals. Yeah, and this is your clover, right here. Cows are meant to be outside, enjoying the sunshine and the fresh air and the green grass. A big part of organic farming is preventative care. We do a lot of things ahead of time to keep our cows healthy. We don't use antibiotics. They get 100% organic feed every day. We intentionally plant seven to 10 species of grasses and legumes so that when our cows go out to graze they have, in essence, a giant salad bar and they can choose what they want to eat. But also it's really improved our soils and we're seeing that in our pollinators, butterflies, birds, bees. The best investment anybody can make is in the quality of their food and knowing how that food is produced. I am so proud to be able to say that I'm an Organic Valley farmer. It's kind of cup filling. It's just a good experience for all of us to get together and kind of remind ourselves why we work so hard and what we're trying to do and that's because we care about where our food comes from and we want to give you an option to have really good food, too.