Ba-Lucwf FamUngT Saturday, February 6, 1988
To Farm Or Not To Farm?
A Fourth Generation Question
BY CAROLYN
HILSDON GILLES
Crawford Co. Correspondent
MEADVILLE—EarI and Bon
nie Krider will look back on 1987
as a year of change.
Earl is the fourth generation to
work the dairy farm on which he
and wife Bonnie live with their
three daughters, Kelly, Janelle and
Kendra. His great-grandparents
inherited some of the land and his
grand-dad, Harry Krider, bought
two additional parcels. Earl’s dad,
Edward, took over in 1972, and
turned the operation over to Earl in
1983.
Earl had married Bonnie Walp
in 1976. Bonnie’s dad, a dairy far
mer from nearby Venango, died
when she was 12. So, although
Bonnie thought she knew what she
was getting into, being the wife of
a dairy farmer was a lot different
than what she remembered. With a
young family to raise, an anti
quated bam and equipment, the
work was hard and didn’t give
them much quality time together as
a family. But Bonnie quickly adds,
“It’s nice now.”
The “now” she refers to is the
improved quality of life they are
experiencing since making the
decision to remodel their bam.
A combination of business and
family reasons brought about the
remodeling. Said Earl, “We knew
for a number of years that if we
were going to continue dairying, it
would be pretty hard to continue
the way we were.” The cows were
milking pretty well, but they didn’t
have die room they needed for
comfort and herd health.”
What they now refer to as “the
old system” was tune-consuming
and labor-intensive. Without a
there was no real order. The 40’x60’ structure was remod
eled and a 40’x48’ pole barn added on. The old celling
beams caught dust and cobwebs and were hard to keep
clean.
structure to the far corner of the new addition. The old
beams held dust and cobwebs and were hard to keep clean.
The new structure’s interior Is easy-to-clean vinyl.
bam cleaner, Earl and his dad had
to manually clear manure two or
three times a day. It was a tedious
and back-breaking process.
So, in 1987, after years of think
ing they should “do something
about the bam,” the Kriders began
to think more seriously about it.
Said Earl, “Sometimes the dairy
situation didn’t always look the
brightest” They debated whether
this was really a good time to put a
lot of money into the farm, and
whether they would get a return on
their investment. To resolve these
issues, they sought some outside
advice.
To evaluate their options, Bon
nie said, “We had to realize that we
weren’t perfect We had to allow
ourselves to be vulnerable enough
to allow someone to come in and
say, ‘Here’s your strengths; here’s
your weaknesses.’ To reach our
potential, we had to ask for help.”
Their veterinarian encouraged a
change for the sake of herd health,
but they also talked with County
Agent Blaine Schlosser and their
Farm Financial Consultant Kathy
Cooper. Said Earl, “Blaine
wouldn’t steer us one way or the
other. He knew our setup and knew
as well as we did that we couldn’t
continue that way.. .But he knew
the dairy situation and pointed that
out. He didn’t know whether this
was really the right time either.”
Come spring, the Kriders began
to compute the actual cost of the
project Earl was raised on the pol
icy that you either pay cash for
something or you don’t do it With
remodeling costs and the major
purchase of equipment that’s a
pretty hard policy to follow. Still,
they tried to be as prepared as pos
sible for the additional costs. Said
Earl, “A large amount of our land
is woodland ... and we did sell
some of that off this year to help us
out financially.” They also learned
about some cost-sharing possibili
ties with ASCS.
The Kriders relied heavily on
the advice of Kathy Cooper, their
farm financial consultant Cooper
had been working with them since
1984 and had a few years of watch
ing their finances. Said Bonnie,
“She thought we were ready.”
The final decision was theirs,
but they valued the input of
Schlosser and Cooper. Said Bon
nie, “We had to realize that we
couldn’t make the decision on our
own, that these other people had
the expertise to advise us and
counsel us.”
But a bottom-line issue the
Kriders had to resolve before
undertaking a remodeling project
of this magnitude and expense was
whether they really wanted to
spend the rest of their lives dairy
farming.
They mulled over advice and
did a lot of “soul searching,” and
communicating to understand each
other’s goals and commitments,
trying to be honest with them
selves and with each other. They
knew changes had to be made.
Bonnie said that the best counsel
they got was to “put each other first
and let the business take care of
itself.” Bonnie and Earl came to
realize that the differences two
people bring to a marriage can
really be strengths if you turn them
around and allow them to comple
ment each other. And, with mutual
respect, each person can use these
complementary skills to enhance
the running of the business. Bon
nie said, “This was the real turning
point for us to make the decision to
stay in farming and really make it
our life.”
In the end, the balance to remain
in fanning was tipped by Earl’s
love of the land. Said Earl, “It’s
something I’ve done all my life.
I’ve never done anything else. You
have to stop and think: What could
I do? If I could get another job,
what would you be happy doing?
... A lot of times I get sort of tired
of this seven-day-a-week thing and
long hours. It has it’s rewards, too,
but I really wonder if I would be
happy doing anything else.”
Bonnie says she did her best to
make sure that’s how Earl really
felt, and, since it was important for
Earl to have her support, to define
her own feelings about being a
farm wife as well. Earl feels
strongly that farming is “a good
honest way to make a living.” He is
comfortable working and raising
his family close to the land.
So, with renewed commitment
to each other and to dairy farming,
the Krider’s decided to take on the
remodeling project. Still more
decisions had to be made regarding
materials and design. Equipment
in the old facility needed replaced
and the Krider’s chose what some
might consider “cadillac equip
ment” But considering Earl’s age,
37, they chose materials designed
to last for 30 years. They selected a
design that remodeled die old bam
and extended it with a new pole
bam structure. Added features
include a bam cleaning system,
stainless steel stalls, tile mangers,
and rubber mats for the cows. In
addition, they widened the door
way to the silo, the center walk
way, and the feed chutes to allow
(Turn to Page B 4)
ly, 7 and Janelle, 5. Baby Kendra, 5 months old, was nap
ping at the time the picture was taken.
make it easy to get around in the remodeled structure
wmesfead
turned out to help on the day the center walkway was
poured. From left, Ray Holabough, Ed Black, Ed Krlder, Tom
Quinn and Rick Nichols lend a hand.
DOING HER PART Bonnie ponders her role of farm
wife as she works on the farm books in her corner of the
Krlder bedroom.