Facing the Unknown

Misty wasn’t a farmer. So when she started dating Sieto Mellema, she didn’t know what she was getting into.

“When he would call and say, ‘I can't come see you this weekend, I have to check the sprinklers,’ I was like, ‘Really, sprinklers are more important than me?’ I didn't know your world revolved around irrigation when you're a farmer.”

The Calling

Choosing to be a dairy farmer means you're open to grueling, and sometimes thankless, work. But there’s deep joy hidden in the dairy life – sometimes it just takes a while to recognize it.

“I never thought I was going to be a dairy farmer,” said Syke Talsma, who ended up doing just that.

Rajen and Goliath

12-foot snow drifts. 50 mph winds. Subzero temperatures. They didn’t call it Winter Storm Goliath for nothing. And when it hit the Vander Dussens’ dairy farm in Clovis, New Mexico, it hit hard. But the Vander Dussens didn’t go down.