D

Ag/NatR Internship:  Animal Science, dairy emphasis

 

Name:

Major:

Summer:

Jennifer Goeller

Animal Science, dairy emphasis

2003

 

Place of Employment:

Address:

City:

State/Province:

ZIP/Postal Code:

Company/Org. URL:

 

The Grassway Farm

N600 Plymouth Trail

New Holstein

Wisconsin

53061

email:  kwcraig@direcway.com

 

 

Supervisor/Position:

Phone Number:

Kay and Wayne Craig, owners/operators

(920) 894-4201

 

 

Job Title:

Intern

 

 

Job Responsibilities:

Milking

Rotating cattle

Moving fences

Heat watch

Cut/Rake hay

Clip pastures

Building chicken brooder

Moving chickens

Cleaning

Assist with herd health

Trim weeds along fences

Mix feed daily

Compost manure

 

 

Summarize Your
Experience:



 

 I did a majority of the milking, but always with another person, as you need two people in the parlor.  Kay and Wayne took great care of showing me all aspects of dairy farming using grazing, as I come from a conventional farm, so everything was all new to me.  Besides the regular duties of milking, mixing feed, clipping pastures, and helping with hay, I also cleaned in the parlor and outside on the cement (scraping manure) , helped move chickens, and some other odd jobs around the farm.  I was good at finding things to do when there was nothing to do.  They are also in the process of transitioning to organic, so assisting with herd health was a whole new ball game for me too.  I learned to use all of the organic treatments for sickness and bacterial infections.  I built a chicken brooder out of a Menard’s do-it-yourself shed so that Kay can brood her chickens in there next year because of the rat problem that she has in the grainery where they are now. 

 

What I liked most about
the job:

 

I liked the whole aspect of working here, except that it was 9 ½ hours from home.  Kay and Wayne made a point to show me everything they were doing and how it was done.  They took me to a focus group for a study that the U of Wisconsin, Madison was doing, and I participated in the tours that they had on their farm.  I got to meet quite a few contacts that specialize in grazing.  They also treated me just like one of the family.  I enjoyed myself so much and learned lots from this experience.  I would do it all over if I could.

 

Challenges on the job:

 

 

There were a few things that were challenging.  One was being so far from home.  It was 470 miles away from everybody, but the two months flew by fast.  Adapting to the work load was another challenge.  At home, we work from 7:30 am until at least 10:30 at night, with only a couple small breaks for food and maybe a quick nap.  At The Grassway Farm, it was more of a relaxed atmosphere.  It was an adjustment I had to make, which was hard in the first couple weeks because it felt like I had not enough to do, but I adjusted.