The True Crop

If this was a sponsored blog, today's post would be sponsored by Kleenex.  Doug has always been a very gifted writer, I think most of you will identify with his perfectly worded sentiments.  We each owe a great deal to Juniper Dairy and the men who's spirits embodied it.  Grab a tissue and enjoy!

From Douglas:

I have been slow and even hesitant to post on this blog, not because I have nothing to say but because the farm has meant so much to me. Juniper dairy has always been more than just another farm I believe it is so special because of the two great men that ran it. Some might say that the farm failed, but I wonder, has there ever been a more successful farm? I believe that milk was a byproduct and that you and I were the true crop.

So I would like to share with you a few things that I learned on the farm from two great men and how they still help me.

Broken things.

If you are like me then I am sure that you have at one point or another complained about the broken things on the farm or the equipment that no longer works quite right. I have since learned to be grateful for those broken things because they represent fathers and bosses who were willing to let me work and learn.

Above is a picture of a very familiar auger on the farm. (It is not the latest model but no auger has ever looked so good) What many of you do not realize and don’t see is that the fly wheel on the top has been snapped in half.

It was early one summer morning and I was out doing the morning chores. One of my assignments that morning was to move the auger from one grain bin to another. I gave the auger a real hard tug to get it out of the first bin, as the auger had been set in motion I soon learned how slippery the end could be. Needless to say I lost hold of it and watched helplessly as the heavy motor pile drove the end into the ground and the fly wheel snapped. What a start to a beautiful morning and I now had to go explain to Dad what I had done. I found him at the mill and told him simply that I had broken the auger. In classic Dad fashion he asked if it was the fly wheel that I had broken. I confirmed that it was and he off handedly mentioned ‘they can get away from you pretty easily can’t they.’ He then said “notice how I knew exactly where it had broken.” 

I then headed off to feed the cows I needed to move some hay and needed to pull the ford ten wheeler up the edge of the hill to get some hay, as most of you know the ford’s brakes consisted of turning the key off at the right moment, which I did. The truck then fell out of gear though and I began rolling down the hill past the grain mill. I tried mashing it back into gear but was unsuccessful as I rapidly gained speed. I tried pumping the brakes but to no avail. As I came to the barn I then had to decide if I should try to get on the dirt road at that speed or take out the fence between the manure pit and the evaporation pond. Not having faith in my ability to maneuver onto the dirt road with no brakes at that speed I decided that the fence must go. As I rounded the barn I saw a new, tall pile of sand that looked like a good runaway truck barrier to me so I drove straight into it. After wiping the sweat from my brow I then proceeded to explain to my dad what I had done to the truck. Memory fails me now but I do know that there was one more thing that I broke that morning and had to tell my father about. (I feel like it involved one of the tractors that I tried to move the hay with but can’t remember for sure.) And I remember thinking as I headed to explain the last one to my Dad, “I have broken all this and I haven’t even had breakfast yet.”

Dad and Ross knew full well that letting us inexperienced kids work would result in many mistakes and some of them costly. But I firmly believe that raising good men and women was way more important to them than a business was. After breakfast Dad then had me in the shop fixing the fly wheel as you will notice in the picture that follows it has been welded all the way across. Ross walked into the shop as Dad was showing me how to fix it and just laughed when he saw what I had done. They not only gave us a chance to work and make mistakes they taught us how to fix them. This I think relates to every aspect of our lives.