Dairy farmer looks ahead to switch to feeder cattle

Editor's Note:This story is the first in a series about local farms and farmers.

Jerry Siemers loves his cows and he loves his land.

He is the fourth generation of his family to operate a dairy and 1,000-acre farm off County Road 208 in Cape Girardeau. His son, Jonathan, soon will be the fifth generation to take over operations of the family's Windy Vue Farms.

After operating the farm the past couple of decades, Siemers said he reached a point where he had to choose Path A or B, and a decision was made for the future of the farm and his family.

By about this time next year, all the farm's dairy cows will be replaced with feeder cattle, which will be eventually sold for beef.

Jerry Siemers pets one of Windy Vue Farms' dairy cows as she is being milked on Wednesday. (Laura Simon)

It was not an easy decision to make, because dairy cows are all Siemers has known.

"I grew up on this farm, and that's what I know are cows, inside and out," he said.

Siemers took over the farm from his father in 1985 after graduating from Southeast Missouri State University and expanded the herd from 85 cows to about 225.

Hay, corn, soybeans and wheat also are grown on the property, a quarter of which is owned by the family and the rest of the land is rented.

A difficult decision

Jerry Siemers, left, and his son Jonathan at the family's Windy Vue Farms in Cape Girardeau on Wednesday. (Laura Simon)

After his and his wife Patti's twin boys, Jared and Jonathan, were born in 1991, Siemers said they needed to "get big or get out." The following year, a 20-year business plan for the farm was put into place, which included building silos, a freestyle barn and commodity shed. That business plan came to an end in 2012.

"It was time to reanalyze, reappraise and see what direction we were going to go," Siemers said.

About that time, his wife's family farm in Fruitland was heading to auction, and Siemers "made a pact with God or the devil," and he doesn't know which.

"If we bought the farm at Fruitland, it was a sign that the cows were going to go," he said. "If we weren't successful in buying the farm, then that was a sign that I was supposed to stay in the dairy business."

The choice to buy another farm came at a time when Windy Vue Farms was nearing the need to refurbish its milking parlor, which meant buying robotic milkers at $250,000 apiece. For the size of the farm's herd, Siemers would need four.

"They're not making any more ground," and by purchasing the farm, Siemers said decades later he still would have his investment and whatever money the land had appreciated over time. If he chose to upgrade his milking facility, 10 years down the road he could have a worn-out barn and "a couple thousand dollars' worth of scrap metal."

Siemers was left with a question: to spend the money and perhaps not have anything later to put toward his retirement, "or do I put it in something that I can go ahead and pass on as a legacy to the next generation?"

The Siemers chose to buy the farm to keep it in the family. The land had "survived the Depression and everything else" and had been in his wife's family for four generations.

"To me, it was important, and to my boys, it was important. ... We needed to buy it to make sure it stayed in the family," Siemers said. "We don't want to see it going to somebody else on the auction block just for the sake of the almighty dollar."

Siemers plans to grow row crops on the Fruitland farm.

Switching cows

By selling his dairy cows, he's getting rid of many "employees," Siemers said, referring to the cows. The farm already has sold about one-third of its herd and two-thirds of its heifers, leaving about 140.

"I'm probably going to miss it," he said on Wednesday, adding he is excited for the change and a bit scared.

Siemers has raised some of his cows since they were born. He's watched them grow from calves, then saw how many calves those cows had.

"Animals become like family to you," he said. "And every cow is unique. They have their own attitudes; they have their own temperaments; they have their own personalities."

How much Siemers cares for his animals can be seen with every smile and laugh he gives while talking about his job, and every gentle pat or scratch he gives his cows along their necks as they are milked.

He spoke fondly of cow No. 1051, who would nudge people for a pat or scratch. She was popular with the press, farm days and a "Kiss the Cow" contest, he said with a laugh.

"You can't treat them bad and expect them to be good for you," he said.

The property already has feeding facilities for its future feeder calves. The job will be less time-consuming, and the family can devote more ground on the property to crops.

"You don't have to worry about the corn showing up for work at 4:30 in the morning," Siemers said. "You don't have to worry about the soybeans kicking you when you're not looking."

Until next year, as long as the barn holds together, Siemers said they will continue milking cows every day at 5 a.m. and 3 p.m., just as his father did.

ashedd@semissourian.com

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