Rebuild the Palmer Farm's Dairy Herd After Devastating Loss

Many wonderful friends and family have reached out and are eager to help, though my family is too proud (stubborn) to ask for it, so I decided that setting up a donation page would be the best way to help them recover some of their losses. My brother may strangle me for it and would likely rather go bankrupt, but he'll forgive me eventually :)

I'm Jo Palmer, and I grew up on Meadow Brook Farm in upstate NY where my brother is now the majority owner of the dairy farm he operates with my parents, Sam (Ron) and Landa Palmer. Jordan is the 7th generation to farm it in East Meredith, NY, each generation doing things a little different than the last, making the farm their own and working so, so hard to provide good quality produce while being excellent stewards of the land and keeping the herd happy and healthy (they even have a cow back-scratcher in the barnyard!). Dairy farming is never easy - aside from the lack of sleep and physical tolls, you're also at the whim of the milk market (which you have no control over), constantly battling the weather, trying to stay on top of feed bills, equipment repairs, crop management, herd health, the list goes on, and hoping that the incoming milk check will cover the expenses.

Last week, an illness ran through the barn, which houses 48 milking cows, and there was nothing they or the vet could do to stop it. They lost 10 cows to a respiratory illness that first showed up as a loss of milk production, loss of appetite, and then down and out gasping for air and ultimately dying within a matter of days. At the beginning of the week, they didn't know if they'd have any cows left by the weekend. Though they seem to be coming out on the other side, 20% of their mature herd are dead, and though several were showing signs of illness and seemed to respond to treatment they may not make milk again, and they currently only have about a dozen cows filling the milk tank. Now, farmers are no strangers to loss - loss of livestock, loss of crops, loss of money is practically a guarantee in dairy farming. But losing so many at once is devastating, and it's not just the financial loss - no farmer wants to watch their animals die. One of them was Jord's favorite cow he's ever had.

But the financial loss here is real, and it's huge. Small dairy farms have been struggling for years to keep going, and so many have had to make the hard decision not to carry on. I'm not sure if Jordan will keep dairy cows forever - he will continue to make the best decisions he can for himself, for the farm, and for his kids' futures. But now, today, next week, next year, he and my parents will be working hard, as always, to make things work, and if you're so inclined, your support could help keep things going.

Please help rebuild the herd - a standard dairy cow goes for at least $2,000 - so I've set the fundraising goal at 10 cows. The actual total loss from this event is hard to calculate - it's not just the loss of cows, it's the loss of their milk and that milk check as the expenses continue to accumulate, the vet bills, the loss of the potential offspring that those ladies would have had. Any amount is appreciated, and if you're not in a position to donate, I know they'd just appreciate you checking in on them.

I'll be collecting donations and will provide it as a gift to Meadow Brook Farm. Using a crowdsourcing platform does charge a small transaction fee - but it's much easier to have all donations come to one place, you can bump your donation up a little to cover them if you want, and I will cover the difference at the end.

With deepest gratitude and love,

Jo