It’s the end of a growing season, the harvest is in mostly, the wheat and barley are planted. We have the never ending list of clean up, manure to haul, fence to fix, barns to fix, waterers to winterize and the list never ends! In all of that we can look back and say we have some areas to improve on and we have some we did very well with. Kristy and I make goals for the year in January we keep them written on a large white board in our farm office/laundry room.
We failed at some completely!
Some we were a little late on getting done but we did get them done.
Others are waiting for the year end.
We’ve done this for several years now as a family and now as just the two of us.
We’ve kept most of them and like to look back. One year we put down go on vacation. That was a big goal and we did it. For some of you that seems like a crazy thing to put down because you always go on vacation. For a dairy farmer it is a rare thing. we’ve rarely gone on them to be honest. I don’t mind but Kristy and the kids remind me often that we didn’t go on very many vacations. We have hopes to get away soon for a couple days and that will hopefully not effect our deliveries but it’s part of being a dairy farmer.
We are hoping to to increase sales we have severely missed our goals this year. We’ve never really been short on milk but WOW do we need customers. I think that’s one of my goals for next year, become better at marketing. It’s not my thing. and it’s funny everyone I talk to about it just says pay my fee upfront and we will show you!
We’ve learned so much this year and met so many new people. We’ve had some hostile interactions with people we thought would be sympathetic to local natural foods and we’ve been pleasantly surprised in other areas of friendship and comradery. The reality is we often don’t know what we are doing! We ask lots of questions but mostly we’ve been told “that’s a great question! When you find the answer let us know!” The reality is in direct sales you have to be good at production, advertising, delivery, and customer service. You have to make everything you do as convenient as possible while not loosing your own mind or losing money! We often are trying to plan for the next crop year, the next litter of pigs or where we are going to rotationally graze the cattle, while at the same time planning for how much milk to jug, cream to separate and reminding customers or adjusting for a few families gone on vacation or out of town for other reasons. Every customer that just drops off from not buying leaves you wondering if you offended them or was there an issue with the milk. And then your mind really gets racing!
I say all of this to reenforce the idea that customers are as important as grass to us. Often we wonder if it’s all worth it.
Shouldn’t we just go back to conventional dairying? Just for highest output while pushing the cows in total confinement with all of the latest supplements to get maximum yield? Should we sign back up for all the government programs and be like everyone else? I don’t know if we made more money but we sure didn’t stick out like a sore thumb!
Then we get a short text from a customer telling how they haven’t been able to enjoy dairy products in years but they can and do enjoy ours. The reality is we have to make money and we do have to do a better job of marketing but we will always derive our joy and fulfillment in the growth of good grass, the rich smell of earth, those baby pigs, calves and their ornery mothers. To the satisfaction of a good grain crop, fresh hay and quality food produced right here, for our neighbors and friends. Your encouraging notes and constant purchases bring us great satisfaction and encouragement so tell a friend maybe our greatest weakness is not asking for your help to share our story. When I say “our story” I’m thinking of you as well because without you this is just a pipedream.
