01/19/2026
The cold hits you as soon as you walk out the door, it's late but the night is beautiful. It's clear as a bell and the beauty of the night sky is on full display. The frost clings to everything, gates, panels, sparkling as the frozen ground crunches with each footstep. We've got a set of springers so middle of the night pen checks will become part of the routine as each one nears her calving date.
Tonight we're checking Lily, she was slow moving about when we were milking so she was penned up to keep an eye on. You can always tell when it's their time so we planned on returning up in the night. Sure enough she's stretched flat on the hay two feet showing and pointed right, thank goodness. Now experience from years in the calving pen kicks in. We assess the situation, this is her first calf and struggling a bit so we decide to assist. It's not going to be an emergency pulling so no rush, the calf is presenting properly, so just a couple soft ropes on the fetlocks with just enough pressure to make every contraction count. We hardly speak, we've done this more times than can be counted, a little pressure when needed, keep a check on both Lily and the calf and help her along. It's fast when the time is right though nose, eyes, ears, shoulders, hips and done. It's alive, that's what it's all about!
There's something special when you hear that first snort from a calf. At that moment the current worries of farming or the price of milk don't matter, there on that hay I'm reminded of why I love this way of life and why we fight with everything we have every day to keep going. Under those stars I am thankful, I am blessed to live this life and to be able to share it with my wife. Couched in the hay cleaning up that calf we are tied to thousands of years worth of farmers who saw their own struggles, success and failure under those same stars and who also found peace in the gentle mooing of cows and hope with that first gasp of life. In that I find peace and comfort.
