Maryland couple work to preserve dairy lifestyle By Fran Alt Debbie was excited about her date with George. She bought a bottle of champagne, and set about planning a romantic evening. But Debbie, who grew up on a farm, knew what she was getting into when she began dating George. On that memorable date the couple spent the evening drinking champagne while waiting for a heifer to freshen. "The farming lifestyle is good," said George Donnon, who grew up on his uncle’s farm and started driving tractors when he at nine-years-old. "You are out in the open. Nobody bothers you. You are your own boss. It’s a nice lifestyle to live - nice to grow up in. You learn more than people who grow up in the city do. You understand things - like how weather can make you or break you. You understand about being out with the animals, about being with nature." "And things about being out in the barn in the middle of the night holding a calcium bottle," reminds Debbie. The Donnons lease 250 acres in Calvert, Maryland, near the Pennsylvania border. Here they grow their feed, (corn, alfalfa and wheat) for their 85 milking head and some heifers. They use AI for replacements. There is talk that the small farmer will be a thing of the past, but not if George Donnon has his way. George takes a strong stand on such issues and is willing to do what it takes to preserve his way of life. He says he wants to make a living and put money aside for his children. And he wants to do it his way - on a dairy farm. George and Debbie have two daughters Lindsey 7 and two-year-old April. This day April is tired and in a bad mood . . . she needs one thing than another. Debbie needs to go shopping; George needs to go to the barn. April gets crankier and then falls asleep. Which was really all she needed in the first place. While April is asleep George talks about the plight of the dairy farmer. "We are all good managers. We have survived this long on less than what it actually costs us to farm. "We are all good managers. We have survived this long on less than what it actually costs us to farm. You milk one cow you milk ten cows. Your income over cost is the same no matter what; the only thing different is your numbers. "The average Amish farm has 45 to 55 cows. We milk 85. We are almost double, but we do not make double the amount of money. The guy with more cows has more debt and they have to put on more cows to compensate for the debt that they owe. "Getting bigger means more time, more acres, more wear and tear on equipment. If we get this milk price to where we need it, to make the dollars, I am going to get rid of twenty cows. Then I won’t have to be working 25 hours a day - only 15. It all falls back to the family farmer. "There will be those who add cows. That’s where guys are having trouble - thinking that we are going to kill our own idea by making a surplus of milk. It’s not gonna happen because statistics show that when milk prices are high production goes down and vice versa. When price is down you need to put more cows on. If we get four or five dollars more a hundred, we get rid of 20 cows. Our income will be the same and we’ll do less work." Days are long for Debbie and George, often starting at 3:00 a.m. He gets all the feed ready, does the milking then comes home for breakfast. Then it’s back to taking care of the cows, cleaning up and feeding the heifers until lunch time. Afternoons George and a hired hand do repair work, cleanup work, planting or tilling. George rarely gets home before 7:00 p.m. Debbie feeds all the young calves. The couple won the Maryland Young Farmer of the Year award for 1997. They represented their state in both Nashville, Tennessee and Denver, Colorado. Debbie says, "The farmer’s wife has it the hardest of all. We just got a hired hand. We used to do it all on our own. I like taking care of the calves and he likes milking. It works out. I grew up on a pig farm. Dairy farming is harder work." The couple enjoys their lifestyle. George observes that automation is interesting but it is not farming. "Mass production defeats the purpose of the family farm. The future looks like dairy farming will be corporate farms, and that is one of the reasons dairy farmers need to ban together. To protect what we have - our way of life." George and Debbie are both active in ARMPRA. They hope that someday milk prices will be right and they will have some free time. Maybe they will even buy another bottle of champagne.