High Grove Farm Journal – Aug. 2026
Sep 10, 2026 (Westby, WI)
“The exploiter is a specialist, an expert; the nurturer is not. The standard of the exploiter is efficiency; the standard of the nurturer is care. The exploiter’s goal is money, profit; the nurturer’s goal is health – his land’s health, his own, his family’s, his community’s, his country’s.” -Wendell Berry
We lost a beloved champion of small family farms this month, Wendell Berry. the esteemed agrarian American poet and novelist who lamented industrial farming and the accelerated disappearance of small farmers in our modern America. His works inspired many to recognize a deep moral responsibility to care for the land, protect traditional farming methods that work in harmony with nature, and welcome many into regenerative agriculture.
Cha Cha having some routine hoof care done.
As I write this, the annual announcer of summer’s end is heard down the long drive – a “Tsssss…..” as the air brakes are hit, after the yellow school bus lugs up the hill and then stops at the neighbor’s driveway first and then our house. Our Labrador, Prairie, watches as the kids get on the bus and then plops her back end down in the dewy grass, resigned to the fact that the kids won’t be home to play with her for several hours, and she’ll have to find a barn cat to annoy for fun now.
Welcome to High Grove Farm, we’re so glad you stopped by to get a closer look at a Westby Creamery family farm! My name is Jessica and my husband and I, along with our four children, Carter 17, Caleb 14, Laney 9, and Tulsie 2, have had a full month. The end of summer farm work, garden harvesting, haying, getting ready for the start of school, cleaning for a milk inspection and daily farm chores made this month fly by!
The favorable weather has allowed the cows’ pastures to continue growing for the entire summer, and grazing is still a daily part of the routine, which we are thankful for. However, on the extra hot days we are still keeping the dairy cows in the cool barn and only grazing at night after the sun goes down. There’s nothing so hard on dairy cows as heat. A sure sign of the end of summer is the local gang of yipping coyotes and a fox family creeping closer to our farm buildings at night. As the sun rises, we will see them sauntering by on the cow lanes, always a little unnerving when I think of new calves born on pasture overnight. But they all have gotten along so far, so we let them be.
We’ve welcomed many new calves! Calf chores are considerably longer with so many to care for twice a day now. It’s always so rewarding, however, to see the next group of heifers fill up. We call them by name, get to learn their personalities and include them in the farm’s daily routine.
The gardens have hit peak production, and I am to the point of the summer where I am sneaking vegetables into anything I can to use them up. My kitchen counter is never lonely for them.
Drew has been busy with our organic certification in any extra time he has away from the cows and field work. Soon, our corn will need to be chopped and there will be the satisfaction of seeing the long white silage bags in rows, full of a years worth of feed for our animals. As the end of summer welcomes the cozy autumn months, we are thankful for the growing season we had this year with no lack of rainfall. We hope you had a bountiful year as well in all your ventures.
Thank you for stopping by!
Jessica Rogers is a Westby Creamery farmer-owner who is sharing glimpses of farm life with us.
