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| Third generation dairy farming |
By: Sara Reid, Special to The Press
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Posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 9:02 pm
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Buddy Bell feeds a bull calf as a part of daily life on the Bell Dairy Farm.
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The clock flashes 3:30 a.m., a time when most people would roll over and attempt to get back to sleep, but for a dairy farmer, it’s time to get the day started.
Though the sun is nowhere in sight and the stars are still shining, on any day of the week Loyd Bell can be found out in his barn milking his Jerseys for the first of two times they will be milked in the day.
With his middle son Glen helping out, they usher in eight cows, in varying shades of brown, at a time.
Four of the eight are fitted with four sterile metal nipples that suck the milk out of the udders and take it to a holding jar and the milk is then siphoned through ceiling pipes to a large 1,000-gallon holding tank where it is stored and cooled to about 36 degrees and picked up to be shipped to the Dairy Farmers Co-op in Farmingdale, Ill.
Dairy farms, which once numbered in the 100s in Weakley County have now dwindled down to eight, victimized by “economic conditions and labor requirements,” according to Mr. Bell.
Two of the farms are located in the northeast part of the county, two are in the Martin area, one is in Sharon, Mr. Bell and his youngest son Buddy each have a farm and one is located in the county, but with a McKenzie address. Bell proudly notes that half of the farms have Jersey herds.
“This is a seven-day-a-week, every-day-a-year operation,” Bell noted.
The cows, however, don’t seem to realize their importance. They nibble hungrily on a corn mixture and seem perfectly contented and completely immune to the process that takes place each and every day. After all, it’s what they were born to do.
“We bring in eight cows, milk four at a time and have the others standing by,” Bell explained. “The udder is washed and dried off and the milker is attached. The milk goes to a weigh jar and from there it is released into a larger feeding tank. The cows are so used to it they don’t feel anything. It’s natural to them.”
The youngest Jersey is two and the oldest is 12, but the average life span of a dairy cow numbers between seven and eight years.
“At the time we started milking, there was a good market for Jersey milk. There was a little premium in the price. The Jersey breed is a smaller size so they’re more efficient. They’re also a gentler breed,” Bell commented.
With a simple commend, “Come on,” and an occasional pinch on the rear for prompting, the already-milked cows promenade out of the barn and back into an open area now dimly lit by the sun’s gradual rise. This continues until all the cows have been milked and will take place again later in the day.
Out back in a barn filled with hay are the babies. Miniature versions of their mothers, they wait patiently for Bell’s wife Jo to bring over a drink of milk. Surrounding the area are dozens of cats and kittens.
Their presence is needed to rid the barns of mice and rats, but the look in their eyes also notes their wish for milk.
“We get the calves drinking from a bucket as soon as we can,” Mrs. Bell explains as she holds up a purple bucket of milk to a thirsty heifer. “We try not to keep them on the bottle for long.” Grandchildren Katie and Lacey come over to help and Mr. Bell prepares to take buckets of feed over to calves grazing in nearby fields.
While driving to his son Buddy’s dairy operation in his farm truck, he shares his history and his passion for getting into and staying with his occupation and way of life.
Mr. Bell grew up in Obion County in Rives and his wife was a native of Martin in the Three Point area. Both products of family dairy farms, they moved to Weakley County in 1963 and started their farm in 1965 with eight cows. They built the milk barn and used the operation primarily for shipping and manufacturing for the first two years. They had their first son, Greg, in 1963 and two more sons, Glen and Buddy, came in 1965 and 1966 respectively.
“We’d both been in dairy all our lives. Both of our parents were in dairy,” Mr. Bell commented. “I just wanted to be a farmer. Dairy has been good to us.”
Over at Buddy’s farm, a partnership between him and Glen, a similar scenario has unfolded. By this time, the sun is completely out and Buddy’s first milking is finished.
He sprays down the area where cows have been milked as his wife Carol fills bottles and buckets with milk to feed calves. Buddy fills a bottle to feed two one-day-old calves -- a heifer and a bull.
“Glen and I are partners. Greg does row-crop farming and construction and helps farm with the rest of the family. We’ve been altogether in this since 1989,” Buddy explained.
In 1977, Buddy’s farm was purchased and stayed dormant until 1988 when, much like his father, he got the urge to follow his roots and be a farmer.
He graduated in 1984 with an Ag Business degree and during that time was up every day working with the cows. After graduating in three and a half years, he set out on his own in the dairy farming world and since that time, has seen many changes take place.
“The business has changed more in the last four years than it ever has. Farming in general has changed,” he commented.
“With row crops, there’s GPS, there are new chemicals, you can stack spray with corn. With dairy, there are now ways to breed cows to have all heifer calves, but sometimes it’s just not feasible.”
“It’s getting more complicated. It used to be simple, but you’ve just got to change with the times,” he admitted.
Mr. Bell located a new-born heifer out in the field and the unwilling mother must be held at bay while Buddy puts iodine on the umbilical cord to keep away infection.
Back at Mr. Bell’s farm, Glen sifts silage out of a silo that can hold 500 tons of the mixture for the cows to eat.
Powerful augers pull the corn out of storage where it is sifted and passed down a conveyor belt for the hungry cows. The maternity ward is located beside the silos and expectant cows graze in this area.
Another truck trip takes buckets of silage over to two areas of grazing calves. Mr. Bell pours the corn into troughs and waits for the calves to come and get it. After the feed is poured, a trip back to the farm in necessary to refill the buckets for the next day.
Along the route to the barn, several pieces of Mr. Bell’s collection of tractors line the way -- mostly Allis-Chalmers with a small grey Oliver and a restored Ford protected in a barn.
After the buckets are filled, it’s time for breakfast, a tiny bit of relaxation before returning to the heat, a glimpse at the local news paying special attention to the weather and then out into the fields for crop work.
The Bell farm contains approximately 600 acres including both dairies, some rented land for row crops and some ground for cutting hay. Crop work continues until 2:30 p.m. when the heifers are fed and 3 p.m. when the day’s second milking takes place. By 6 or 6:30 p.m., milking is finished and more field work takes place until dark.
Filling in the tiny cracks of this busy schedule is church, garden work and keeping up with grandchildren, most of which show cows with the local 4-H club. And, oh yes, there is sleep. A bit. Nine or 9:30 p.m. is a sought after, but not always obtained bed time.
The next day, the cycle begins again. Most everything involving a dairy farm appears to be cyclical. Namely the routine, but most importantly and not always noted, the family. Bell and his wife grew up in a dairy farm, became dairy farmers, had children who became dairy farmers and may possibly have grandchildren who will be dairy farmers.
The cycle continues for a way of life that, while abandoned by many people over the years, still holds strong for the Bells and for other families who realize that times may change but milk and the way it brings them together will always remain the same.
WCP 6.30.09 |
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