Milking cows are patiently waiting for their afternoon dinner on Neyer Farms, in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan on September 4, 2020. Every day after milking , the cows walk through water mixer that cleans their hooves and helps prevent warts.
Jerry Neyer, right, helps his mother, left, with cleaning out the calves milk bowls to keep the flies away on in the nursery on Neyer Farms located in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan on September 4, 2020. “My mother and father are retired, but they really are not, they love this place too much to fully retire,” said Jerry.
Jerry Neyer feeds a day old calf with her mother’s milk on Neyer’s Farm in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan on September 4, 2020. Jerry explained that calves need to drink their mom’s milk over the next couple days to insure they do not get sick since their mom’s milk contains important antibiotics for the calves.
Sunrise on Neyer Farms in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan on September 11, 2020. The cows that are about to give birth live in this pen so they are away from the rest of the herd.
Rachel Struble main job is to milk the 90 heifers in the morning at 7;30 am every day on Neyer Farms located in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan on September 9, 2020. Rachel is not related to the Neyer’s but she has worked on this farm for 15 years, and feels like she is now a part of the family.
Jerry Neyer is helping a heifer give birth by putting the chains around the calf’s front hooves and pulling the calf out on Neyer Farms, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan on September 7, 2020. “I assist with helping the birth to alleviate some of the pain the mother is going through, and the chains do not hurt the mother or baby, I use it to help with my grip,” explained Jerry.
Jerry Neyer is finishing up feeding the milking cows, so he can take a small break before getting back to work on Neyer Farms, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan on September 4, 2020. The food the cows are eating is a mixture of water, corn and hay, and Jerry must mix up the feed every day for the heifers in order to keep the food fresh.
Farming runs in the blood of the Neyer family. Neyer Farms has been around for three generations with both Jerry and Bryan’s sons slowly taking over the farm. Jerry’s two sons, Sam and Drew, decided to go to Michigan State University for their agriculture program though Drew is still in school. While Bryan’s son, Josh decided to go to Central Michigan University to learn about business and finance. All three sons grew up on the farm, and have been working on it since they were 13.
“Not only is the farm being passed down generation by generation, but so is the house that is located right on farm. Right now Sam and his fiance live there, and once Drew is out of college, he wants to live in that house as well,” said, Jerry.
Though Neyer Farms is a primarily a dairy farm, they do own fields of corn and hay near their farm. They also help other local farmers with chopping their corn, and they do get a compensation for doing that. Not only have they been cutting down corn at their farm, but they have traveled to Bay City to help some farmers with cutting their fields.
If the Neyer’s are not in the corn and hay fields, then they are taking care of the cows whether that is helping with birthing, cleaning the stalls, or feeding them. All the cows on their farm are Jersey, Holstein or a cross breed of those two. They have about 90 milking cows which they milk in the morning and night at 7:30. Neyer Farms also takes care of neighboring farms calves, if the other farms do not have all the equipment or room.
“We occasionally take cows from the Amish that are about to give birth and help birth the calves then we take care of the calves for bit before returning them,” explained Jerry.
While Jerry is not at the farm, he works on his small farm back at his house where he is growing strawberries, cucumbers, squash and tomatoes. He even has a few cows at his home that he looks after.
“I leave the farm to come back to my small farm, so I am never bored, and I keep doing this every day because I love it,” said, Jerry.
