Turning Off the Milk Pump

 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 too decided it was time to retire. 

While a dispersal sale seems sad, for this family it’s different.  They are happy.  They are satisfied.  They are humble.  They didn’t break any records, win any banners or sell any cattle for big money.  They just kept their nose to the grindstone, continued to move forward and were good stewards of what God had entrusted to them.

Their work ethics matched and day after day, they used that to their advantage.  When one person wasn’t available to do something, the other two stepped into get it all done.  There is no bitterness, no angst, and no regrets.  They have spent a lifetime doing exactly what they wanted to do, and the bonus is they were incredibly successful along the way. As I interviewed them, I could see they loved working.  Phyllis said when you enjoy what you’re doing, you work all day long and at the end of the day, you’re tired, but it’s a good tired.

Pleasant Meadow Farms may not have anymore cattle, but they have a legacy of success built on years of hard work, cooperation, laughter, and love.  And that was a feature story worth writing.