City Meets Country on the Heim Family Dairy Farm

Jennifer Heim and her family keep busy on their dairy farm in Easton, where they produce milk from Holstein and Jersey dairy cattle. They also raise Angus crossbred cattle for beef, grow corn and soybeans, and produce hay for their animals. We caught up with Jennifer in a few spare moments between her full-time job as an engineer and her role on the farm to find out more about her family's dairy operation.

Why are you passionate about dairy farming?

I'm a grain farmer's granddaughter who married into dairy, but I fell in love with the cows shortly after I fell in love with my husband. I love working with the cows, and I'm proud to help produce a nutritious, natural, affordable product for people to feed their families.

What's your favorite part of your farm job?

Sometimes I feel like a fraud because I also still work in the city, but I love coming home to wide open spaces and incredible sunrises and sunsets. My favorite part of the dairy is the next generation, and not just because the baby calves are adorable. I love seeing the progress we're making with each generation as they enter the milking herd and mature and develop and give birth to the next generation. It's amazing that animals I remember as little calves are now entering their sixth-plus lactation* and milking alongside their daughters and granddaughters.

* Lactation is a milking cycle that occurs after a cow gives birth.

What brought you into your farm?

I moved to the big city (Kansas City) for my engineering career and met my husband shortly after. My grandma (who farmed with my grandpa for decades) said, "You did always like the farm more than the other kids." We purchased the dairy from my husband's family in 2012. I also work full time as an engineer. My role on the farm has fluctuated over the years, and right now is pretty hands-off, but I do still keep track of breeding, genetics selection, and registrations and I help outside as I'm able and when needed.

What else would you like to share?

We have two boys ages 4 and 6 that are starting to really understand what we do and be able to help in small ways, and I already enjoy watching them interact with the cows and calves. I'm looking forward to teaching them more in the next few years as well as them being able to contribute more.