In life, all of us have challenges.
But when considering the ones farmers face, ours seem minor.
For farmers, they are numerous, some occurring daily, some of longer nature but all will decide their future.
Alicia Haag from Mic-Ali Farm in Centre Township stated: “Facing and resolving these challenges is difficult, yet it’s the most rewarding aspect of farming. Boring is not in a farmer’s vocabulary.”
Husband Michael and wife Alicia grew up on family dairy farms that gave them the desire to continue in dairy farming as they realized it was the only occupation they would pursue. In their youth, both were involved in the 4-H activities that offered off-the-farm learning experiences.
Their two children, Sara and Cody, helped on the farm and were encouraged to participate in all types of off-farm activities. Sara, who helps with the milking, is still showing and breeding registered dairy animals. A former Berks County Dairy Princess, she won the national dairy judging contest and a trip to the World Dairy Expo in Europe in 2022. She now works for Fisher and Thompson, a milk equipment company.
Cody works on the farm with the crop production and is employed by Wexcon. He also had the distinction of winning the national dairy cattle judging contest.
Alicia mentioned that one of the highlights of farm life was watching their children experience and grow from all their involvement on and outside of the farm.
Michael started dairying with 40 cows in 2001 by renting a neighbor’s dairy facility. After marriage in 2004, Alicia joined the operation. In 2006, they moved to another rental facility, growing the herd to 64 animals and raising their own youngstock.
Michael is the seventh generation of Haags on the same farm since 1794, and father and mother, David and Mary, preserved the home farm in 2008.
In 2010 Michael and Alicia updated the home dairy and expanded their herd, moved to the home farm and are now milking 76 cows.
Feed is grown on the 125-acre home farm and 60 acres of rental land. Home farm land is double-cropped with corn for silage and triticale and rye as a winter cover crop for feed in the spring. Income comes from the milk sold to Dairy Farmers of America, selling some heifers, young cows and the bull calves.
“The most challenging part of dairy farming is trying to survive,” Michael said. “The fluctuating milk prices and the increase costs of required inputs makes keeping the balance sheet on the positive side difficult. But, through the years we have been blessed.”
Important successful income areas include improving herd average to 27,000 pounds; raising their milk quality by lowering somatic cell count to around 100,000; and increasing herd quality by breeding with artificial insemination, allowing them to sell quality animals.
Through Sara’s interest and encouragement, the entire herd now consists of all registered animals, 90% being Holsteins with some Jerseys, Ayrshires and Brown Swiss.
When asked, what is needed for the future of the agriculture industry in Berks and surrounding counties, they say: “We need to educate consumers about today’s farming, agriculture and the food industry. There are many misconceptions, especially about raising animals. Farmers cannot afford to mistreat animals as profit requires productive animals. We have a nutrition adviser and veterinarian on the farm twice each month and spent thousands of dollars to improve cow comfort. People question the use of antibiotics. Being very expensive farmers must keep animals healthy using antibiotics as a last resort.”
The Haags are wonderful examples of the many young Berks dairy farmers producing our food and bringing economic viability to our county.
Clyde Myers worked for 30 years as a Penn State Extension educator in Berks County and is a Berks County Agricultural Land Preservation Board member.