High Grove Farm Journal – February 2025
Mar 03, 2025 (Westby, WI)
Welcome to High Grove Dairy Farm in the rolling hills of Southwestern Wisconsin. I’m Jessica, and I’m thrilled to share with you our family’s farm adventures through my love of photography and writing. These last few calm months have helped to rejuvenate our family’s bodies and souls after the bustle of a busy autumn farm season.
Hauling feed while the ground is frozen in the early morning hours before the sun warms the ground into a muddy mess is part of late winter farming!
Lately, my husband Drew and I have been putting off going to the barn on time in exchange for a second or third cup of coffee by the fire in the morning. And in the evenings, we’re staying up later than normal knowing that tomorrow should be an easy pace too – all thanks to the good weather!
We’re feeling refreshed and ready to start working on our plans for the farm this year. We’re enjoying the first signs of Spring outside, which make indoor office work unbearable. As I write this, a noisy gaggle of geese fly over the house on this warm sunny day.
We were working in Drew’s office to file away the piles of tax papers, which we are thankfully now finished with. His attention is now directed on buying seed for spring planting and getting some outside projects completed that were set aside last fall. My attention is on getting the greenhouse cleaned up so I can start seeds for the garden soon!
Our oldest son Carter and our dog Geronimo relaxing after morning chores on our sassy cow “Babygirl”. Don’t let this chill photo of her fool you, she’s our smallest cow – half New Zealand Friesian and half Holstein but she doesn’t let that stop her from having the biggest personality in the barn!
Drew hauling manure on a blustery February day as the snow starts up for a weekend of snow storms and typical icy February weather.
Last year at this time, we were taking soil samples of all the fields. This year it isn’t that warm or dry yet, but we are already getting ready to haul out any manure piles that we stored up this winter. Our big project is cleaning out the heifers shed while the ground is frozen enough to drive on without making mud tracks through all our fields.
Our cows milk is picked up every other day and brought to Westby Creamery to be made into delicious and nutritious dairy products for you and your family to enjoy!
The kids are finishing up basketball and our oldest son got his drivers license last week. It sure is nice having another driver in the household! Our chickens have been laying eggs so well this winter. They have only taken off a month to molt and then got right back into egg production. However this time of the year we have to watch for predators. One morning, I chased off what I thought was a fox and it ended up being a coyote! Right outside their coop door!
As the weather warms and the ice melts, we look forward to spending more time outdoors and setting this farm up for another year of what we love best – grazing our cows and growing the best food possible for them and for us!
Thanks for visiting the farm!
– Jessica Rogers is a Westby Creamery farmer-owner who is sharing glimpses of farm life with us.
