Knolltop Farm Wife

By Melissa Hart  You want me to do what? Produce a magazine four times a year?  I had no experience in magazines, printing, ad design, selling advertising, much less any thoughts about a media kit, cover designs, bleeds, or ad specs. I was a freelance writer.  I knew how to type words in a word document and send it to the newspaper or magazine, but to actually come up with a complete magazine, nope, not for me. I knew I couldn’t come up with editorial content that anyone wanted to read. I knew I would never be able to sell advertising, or come up with a reason why someone should advertise. I knew I would never have the time to sell, write, edit and hire a designer, who was I fooling? Or better yet, what was God thinking? My first reaction to any challenge is fear.  Fear of failure, fear of not knowing what I need to know and fear of people being disappointed in me.  I know I’m not alone, but when I’m sitting in my office and there is no one there to pa...

 By Melissa Hart By the time you are reading this, Pleasant Meadow Farms will have dispersed their herd and the milk pump will never be turned on again by Melvin, Phyllis or Mark Fledderjohann.  When I was asked to write a feature story on this family, my first thought was, ‘ They are selling out, why would I write a feature story about that?’ The Fledderjohanns have been milking Registered Holsteins on their western Ohio farm since 1968 where they provided a living for their families with 70 milk cows. Mark was the only son to come back to the farm where he and his parents have worked together for decades. He has a wife who wants to spend time with him, and two kids who need their dad’s involvement and the demand of the farm has kept him at a distance far too long, so for Mark in his late 50s, it was time to close the chapter on dairy farming. Melvin and Phyllis are in their 80s and while still in great health and with the mental attitude of a couple of 40-year-olds, they t...

 By Melissa Hart   Starch was a staple growing up.  My mom would spend a few afternoons every week standing over an ironing board making sure all of my dad’s clothes were starched and looking crisp.  She didn’t stop there, she would starch her clothes, dad’s hankies, her aprons, doilies, cloth napkins that were used on special occasions and especially the tablecloths that donned the dinner table on Sunday afternoons when we were likely to have company for dinner. Seeing my mom set up her ironing board in the kitchen was a normal part of growing up and I thought all moms did that, until I found out they didn’t. But I did.  Early in our marriage I had a big pile of ironing, just like my mom.  And within the pile, along with my husband’s shirts, his Wrangler jeans, and crocheted doilies were pillowcases.  Again, I thought everyone starched their pillowcases, until I found out they didn’t. This led me to asking mom why on earth we starched pillowca...

I have a new podcast out on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!  It's the Dairy Agenda Today  EXTRA Podcast with Chris Hill  ! Chris and his wife, Jen, operate MD-Hillbrook in Maryland and specialize in marketing purebred dairy genetics. Chris took a few minutes out of his day while he was trucking cattle to the Maryland State Fair to visit about how he became an auctioneer and how on earth he can breath while crying a sale!  If you enjoy the podcast, share it on your social media channels!

On a Friday afternoon at the state fair, I typed up show results and posted photos of a show that was happening in front of me at the Farmer’s Coliseum in downtown Indianapolis.  Four rings of cattle were on exhibition while clerks, queens and announcers kept the pace of the show moving forward for spectators enjoying a vanilla shake and a hot grilled cheese. On one side of me was a young woman who had just moved back from Iowa and was telling me about her entrepreneurial idea of opening a western wear boutique, behind me sat a former state officer for Indiana FFA and was headed to Purdue to major in ag communications with a desire to get into ag broadcasting. And on my left-hand side was my youngest son who was just along for the fun and giggles. He was flanked by the Indiana Holstein Queen who hailed from Turtle Town, USA, otherwise known as Churubusco, Indiana—don’t think there weren’t some great stories about turtle races throughout the day. On that same Friday afternoon,...

Visiting with my oldest son over coffee he said, “I have a question for you.”  Whenever he says that I always brace myself because it’s usually a question that involves lots of thought and sometimes I have no idea how to answer him. He asked, “When you get together with your lady’s group, do you complain about your husbands?” I said, “Sometimes.” Then he asked, “And when you do complain, you all pile on, right?” It was a great opportunity to explain to him how the healthy support of other women can make the difference between a vibrant family life and insanity. The ladies I meet with week after week not only support each other, but we support each other’s spouses, kids, grandkids and parents.  I can’t count the number of times I was spitting nails about something that happened earlier in the day and recounted the circumstance in great detail waiting for everyone to fly to my defense only to have them point me right back to the positive, the good and the hopeful aspec...

 On a hot day in July, I sat ringside at the Elkhart County Fair in Goshen, Indiana and watched the arena fill up with spectators as the 4-H dairy show began.  We have been covering their 4-H show for a few years now and I always look forward to it.  There’s just something about a county fair that makes everyone feel like the world is right.  Whether it’s the parents running around trying to wrangle their kids to the right ring, or grandparents smiling proudly in the stands, a county fair is one week out of the year that makes sense to everyone. And if you listen closely, you’ll hear the idle chatter from folks who have lived in the county for decades. These people have been coming to the county fair for years and now they are enjoying the third and fourth generation of family 4-Her’s.  Old farmers, relatives, local businessmen, they all like to stand at the rail and watch the show. For eight hours I sat at the table and listened to people come, lean over the ...