A family farm to us is a farm where the family members work together to make it all happen. Chad and I are the only full-time employees at our farm. We spend our days together choring, mowing, going to school activities and occasionally going on a lunch date. There is nothing more gratifying than getting baby pigs in and watching them eat and drink and then curl up and go to sleep all warm and full. In the winter, some of our favorite times are calving the cows and heifers and helping a new calf find his feet and something for his tummy.

It is exciting to watch the kids begin to take on some of the responsibility, especially in the summer. They really enjoy getting new pigs in and now that Corly is almost 13, he is getting to help load market hogs. It is exciting to watch each of the kids develop into their own person and to see what aspect of the farm each one seems to enjoy the most. As parents, our favorite part is getting to tell the kids that they get to do chores because they live and eat here—just like our parents did! We know someday they will appreciate it.

Modernization doesn’t mean less involvement, it just makes it all physically possible. As Chad’s grandpa always said, “work smarter, not harder,” so that is what we do.