Where I Come From

I have been racking my brain for a good way to start off my blogging and I've decided the best thing to do would be to tell you who I am, where I come from and why I have a love for cattle and agriculture in general.

If someone would have told me 10 years ago that I would be driving around the country side working with dairy farmers and that I'd be married to a beef farmer I would have wrote them off as crazy...BUT here I am a dairy girl married to beef :) So how did my journey lead me here you might ask...well it all started growing up in a small town in Michigan on my parents one acre parcel in the middle of a corn field. Yes, the middle of a corn field. I didn't grow up with parents who farmed and I never drove a tractor or milked a cow until college but I did grow up surrounded by farm land and great small town farmers. I gained a respect and appreciation for the long hours and hard work these men and women put in to feed the world. The respect and appreciation I had for those farmers would eventually grow into a fondness and passion for agriculture.

As for the animal side of things I grew up with a mom who is a small hobby dog breeder (Miniature Schnauzers) and who also worked for the local veterinary office as a veterinary assistant. I was fortunate enough to always have a dog to snuggle with on the couch and we would have puppies to play with once or twice a year (lucky kid I know!) I felt pretty early on that with my combined love of animals and science I wanted to be a veterinarian when I grew up! Through high school I worked at the veterinary clinic in town first as kennel help doing odds and ends and after four years had graduated to receptionist just before I left for college. That's when I like to think faith stepped in...

I went through my first year at Michigan State University taking pre-requisites, joined the Pre-Veterinary Medial Association, met with councilors to get advice on building my resume all to make sure I was on the path to vet school. Now don't worry I'm not a total nerd I still found time for extra curricula's, a girls gotta have fun too right?! But when it came time to find a summer job I had decided I needed to broaden my horizons and get experience with cows to add to my resume (dogs, cats, guinea pigs and horses were already covered). I knew of a client at the vet clinic in Milan who was the farm manager at a local dairy farm. I got in touch with her and the next thing I know I'm home from college getting a tour of the farm and the whirlwind explanation of what my duties would be. Little did I know, that day would be a day that would eventually send me in a whole new direction for life. I spent three summers during college milking cows, feeding calves, helping manage the reproduction and health of the herd and an added bonus...educating the public about dairy farming! (The farm I worked for is open to the public 7 days a week and conducts scheduled tours for groups but those details are for another post so stay tuned!) I absolutely loved my job and my courses at MSU started taking a turn toward dairy management when for various reasons I decided vet school wasn't for me anymore.

I was lucky enough to meet my husband in "cow class" as my mother calls it when she tells the story. I graduated from MSU with a Bachelors degree in Animal Science in 2011 after which I continued working at the dairy for a year and a half. I now work for a milk cooperative working with some great dairy producers. My story is a perfect example that life may not always go as planned but some times the hardships and surprises are the greatest blessings!