Michigan Dairy Review Vol. 8 No. 4

If you were asked who are the best dairy farmers in Michigan, who would you name? Many of us would think about those who have the highest milk production per cow. Some might name those with the best registered cattle. Some might answer with those that seem most profitable, for profitability is unquestionably essential for the sustainability of the farm. But most of us know that there is something else about being a good farmer—that being a good farmer means more than just profit. We are proud of the fact that we provide quality products to feed the world, and we admire a farmer who takes good care of his cows and his land. Wendell Berry, the Kentucky farmer poet, wrote, “What is the measure of a good farmer? It is how he leaves the soil.” A good word to describe this concept is “stewardship.” And hopefully, for most of us, a major objective in farming is to practice good stewardship. Dictionaries define stewardship as the discipline of taking care of something for someone else. The “something” is that which is under your control, which for a dairy farmer would include land and the environment, feed and other resources, cows, and milk. And though you may own your land and your cows, in a sense they belong to someone else. Depending on your view of the world, we might consider that we each are temporary caretakers of our world for God, for future generations, for other creatures, and (or) for other people on the planet. My objectives in this article are to encourage you to consider how you might be a better steward in the dairy industry and to help you defend our industry when it is unfairly criticized. I think that there are four major considerations in agricultural stewardship. A good steward in dairy farming is one who: 1) is environmentally friendly; 2) makes efficient use of the earth’s natural resources; 3) produces high quality milk and meat; and 4) practices good animal husbandry. I Stewardship: The Measure of a Good Farmer