Welcome to Our Farm
Our Farm lies in the middle of the lower peninsula of Michigan in the County of Clinton and within 7 miles of the city of St. Johns. In fact, St. Johns is know as the "Hub" of Michigan. Clinton County is the known for its milk production being the County with the largest milk production east of the Mississippi River.
We own 40 acres, all of which are pasture. Our pasture is a mixture of rye, red and white clover, alfalfa, kentucky bluegrass, and occasionally a thistle here and there. We also lease another 34 acres of grass and pasture. Currently this amount of land is perfect for the small herd of dairy cows we manage, four dozen pigs, a small flock of sheep, cats, and eight wonderful children. The farm is certified organic.
We've been farming for almost all of our lives. John's dad farmed with his dad. They had a Guernsey herd that was milked in an old barn. John's daily chores included milking the cows and feeding the calves. That farm today is farmed by John's brother. Before and after John served in the Army he went on to work for a very progressive farmer, Mr Anderson.
Mr. Anderson started intensively grazing his cattle almost 25 years ago, when it wasn't a very popular practice (grazing is somewhat more popular now). John's duties at the farm were maintaining equipment, harvesting crops, milking cows and general farm work. He worked for Mr. Anderson 25 years. Mr. Anderson sold us the 40 acres which we own today. We are very thankful for that as land in our area is very hard to come by. It's also situated just a mile north of Patti's parents and a mile south of John's parents.
Patti was just 11 years old when she first milked solo. Her dad and mom had a more conventional style farm for most of her childhood years. Cows were kept inside, feed brought to the cows, manure hauled out and milking year around was what she grew up with. About the time she graduated from high school, her dad had a talk with that progressive Mr. Anderson, and as a result he too decided to start grazing his cows. In a few short years, he went to seasonal calving and taking 6 weeks off in the winter!
We are blessed to be able to continue this farming tradition and raise our children in an environment full of wonder, even though it has not been easy. Our days are long and every day has its challenges- many of which are out of our control. Thankfully we know that it is God that is in control and he'll lead us where we need to go.
Please enjoy your virtual tour of Our Farm and come back and visit us soon.
Sincerely,
John, Patti, Bethany, Allison, Vincent, Gabriel, Elliott, Emerson, and Natalie Warnke
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