Karl Anderson, aka Papa Karl, was raised in Mineral Point, WI, just a few miles from the farm where my late husband Jon grew up. Karl's best friend's sister was Jon's mom's best friend. That's how close they were and yet they had never met.
One day, in February of 2010, we got a call from Jon's mom. She said a neighbor was having a farm auction and he was selling some Jersey dairy cows. She knew I had been looking for an additional milk cow and thought we might be interested. Jon was heading back to WI for a week, to spend time with his two boys during their spring break, so we decided he should go back a week early, to go to the auction. There were (and still are) very few dairy cattle in Wyoming and even fewer Jerseys. Jerseys tend to have a small frame and have a higher feed conversion ratio (basically they cost less to feed for what you get) than say a Holstein, so they make for a better family or house cow, as they're called when you just have one or two.
During my search for a cow I had run across many others who said they were looking also and couldn't find one. I went to Nebraska for my first. So, we went to the bank and obtained a loan, with the idea that we could buy a few heifers and bring them back, to sell to others who were looking.
When Jon got to the auction, the first to be sold were the young heifer calves. Based on the price they were selling for, Jon was afraid we wouldn't be able to afford the older heifers. So when the lactating older cows came up for sale, he started buying - they were selling for about a third to three fourths the expected price. By the time he was done, he had purchased ten cows. The two year old heifers came through next, (the ones we wanted) at the same price, and Jon seemed to have developed a problem with his arm - he bought eleven of them. We ended up owning nearly half the herd. Over the course of the following week, Jon got to know Papa Karl; milking the cows in his barn while waiting for the veterinary health papers to be secured. Jon knew I was not at all interested in milking ten cows twice a day, so he also purchased, from the neighboring dairies, fourteen little bull calves. Then he loaded them all up on a semi along with twenty feeder pigs and sent them home to me. But that's another tale!
Jon and Karl had many conversations about Jon's life in Wyoming, and how it compared with living in Wisconsin. As a retired farmer, Karl wondered if we might need any help, as he would like to see, "that part of the country". Over the next few months, we had several phone conversations with Karl, and continued to invite him to come out. However, Karl's friends and neighbors kept him busy during the growing season with fencing, planting, and harvesting.
In November, when I went back to Wisconsin for Jon's memorial service, Karl came up to me and asked if I still needed help. I said I did, and just before Christmas, Karl joined us in Wyoming. He moved into "Grandma's house", and has been helping out ever since. He's like a permanent WWOOFer.
One day, in February of 2010, we got a call from Jon's mom. She said a neighbor was having a farm auction and he was selling some Jersey dairy cows. She knew I had been looking for an additional milk cow and thought we might be interested. Jon was heading back to WI for a week, to spend time with his two boys during their spring break, so we decided he should go back a week early, to go to the auction. There were (and still are) very few dairy cattle in Wyoming and even fewer Jerseys. Jerseys tend to have a small frame and have a higher feed conversion ratio (basically they cost less to feed for what you get) than say a Holstein, so they make for a better family or house cow, as they're called when you just have one or two.
During my search for a cow I had run across many others who said they were looking also and couldn't find one. I went to Nebraska for my first. So, we went to the bank and obtained a loan, with the idea that we could buy a few heifers and bring them back, to sell to others who were looking.
When Jon got to the auction, the first to be sold were the young heifer calves. Based on the price they were selling for, Jon was afraid we wouldn't be able to afford the older heifers. So when the lactating older cows came up for sale, he started buying - they were selling for about a third to three fourths the expected price. By the time he was done, he had purchased ten cows. The two year old heifers came through next, (the ones we wanted) at the same price, and Jon seemed to have developed a problem with his arm - he bought eleven of them. We ended up owning nearly half the herd. Over the course of the following week, Jon got to know Papa Karl; milking the cows in his barn while waiting for the veterinary health papers to be secured. Jon knew I was not at all interested in milking ten cows twice a day, so he also purchased, from the neighboring dairies, fourteen little bull calves. Then he loaded them all up on a semi along with twenty feeder pigs and sent them home to me. But that's another tale!
Jon and Karl had many conversations about Jon's life in Wyoming, and how it compared with living in Wisconsin. As a retired farmer, Karl wondered if we might need any help, as he would like to see, "that part of the country". Over the next few months, we had several phone conversations with Karl, and continued to invite him to come out. However, Karl's friends and neighbors kept him busy during the growing season with fencing, planting, and harvesting.
In November, when I went back to Wisconsin for Jon's memorial service, Karl came up to me and asked if I still needed help. I said I did, and just before Christmas, Karl joined us in Wyoming. He moved into "Grandma's house", and has been helping out ever since. He's like a permanent WWOOFer.
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