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Interview with a ...
Dairy farmer

Interviewed by Elsbeth Hamilton | June 2025

Greg Hockerman

What do you do?

My job is a little bit of everything. I am part owner of my family’s dairy farm, and there are currently four equal shareholders: my father, my two brothers, and myself. I guess I am considered the herdsman here on our farm. I am in charge of the animals and their welfare.

What are some of your daily tasks?

On a daily basis I oversee the cows’ care—milking, health, breeding, and management. I also am in charge of all of the hired labor that is involved with the milking or management of the animals on the farm. This includes the feeder who feeds the cows and three full-time employees who work in the barn. I answer their questions and make sure that they're following protocols, and I ensure we have enough workers on hand to complete the daily tasks. A lot of what I do depends on the season as well; in the spring, I’m expected to be out in the fields, too.

What are some essential skills for your job?

You have to be a jack of all trades. So, on top of being able to take care of all the animals and manage the employees, when it’s time to plant and harvest, I'm expected to be in the fields if I'm not in the barn.

I have to be proficient in everything that goes in to running the farm, from being able to run a tractor, which means running field maps and GPS, all the way to managing our robotic milking system. There's a lot more technology now. The amount of technology and electrical equipment that is in the milking system is mind blowing—it was a very big learning curve.

Another thing that you need to have if you're going to go into this industry is faith. You must have faith that things are going to work out because you don't always know if they will. We need the weather to cooperate so we can have good harvests, the equipment to work, the herd to stay healthy, and the market for our milk to be stable in order to be able to afford to keep the farm going. 

What would you say draws people to work in this field?

It's interesting because there really is not a lot of information out there that says, ‘go be a dairy farmer.’ It's often a family thing; you grow up in it, and you get it into your blood. Growing up, I was involved in both 4-H and the Future Farmers of America (FFA) all the way through high school, and my kids were the same way. I mainly showed dairy cattle along with other projects like woodworking and photography. Both 4-H and the FFA have a lot of learning opportunities for kids about different areas of agriculture, but I really don't know how else you get into this field if you don't grow up with it. It’s just not a career that many would consider or know about as far as the actual farming.

What did your career path look like?

I went to college for animal science and dairy science. I interned at a cattle genetics company during college, and after I graduated I worked for the same company for 5 years before I came back to the farm. I think that is one of the best things that a person can do, to work in the industry for several years before working on your own farm.

In college I learned how to work with and meet people, and the connections I made when I went to school have helped me immensely. And the same is true with my two brothers, they went to a short-course program, but the contacts we made in school were probably more valuable to us than the actual schooling was. I firmly believe that learning how to deal with people is an important skill that farmers need, and getting out and working with other people gives them the opportunity to learn that skill.

What do you like best about your job?

Probably the fact that I manage about 750 animals and about 3 people every day. I grew up in the dairy industry, and I always knew I was going to be in the industry somehow. I would say that the last 2 years since we put in this new milking system have been the most enjoyable that I've had.

Also, we do the Farm Bureau’s farm tour, so every spring they bring out the 4th grade kids from all local schools for a tour of the farm so that they have an idea of where their food comes from. It's nice to be able to give back a little bit.

What's the most difficult thing about your job?

A combination of working with people and trying to figure out how we can get paid for our product at a decent rate so we can stay in business. We’re constantly trying to figure out how to economically upgrade equipment and still keep the old equipment running and the lights on. It's a big struggle.

What advice do you have for someone looking to get into this occupation?

My advice would be to know what you're getting into. You have to be dedicated. You have to be willing to give up your life for it: there are no days off, and there are no vacations. It has to be something that you're committed to 100 percent because if you're only committed 95 percent, it's not going to work.

The livestock industry, whether it be dairy, beef, or hogs, is a 24-7, 365-days-a-year business. It's one of those hard things. I mean we do what we do for the love of the animals and the love of the land. We're not in a situation where we can get our crops in and take the winter off or spend time in the shop when you want to in the winter to fix stuff up and still be able to take a 2-week vacation in January—that doesn't happen.

Do you have any plans for the future?

As of right now, to pay for the equipment we have and the farm upgrades we’ve made. We expanded from 350 cows to 700 cows in 2018, knowing we would have to update the milking system. In 2022, we updated the milking system, and right now the plan for the farm is to wait and see what the next generation wants to do. If they want to come back to the farm, then we look at the next step; if they don't want to come back to the farm, we just run the farm the way it is.