Never-ending Hard Work
Meanwhile, cow-owner Baerwolf strays away from picking a favorite flavor of any of his dairy goods, as he admits, “The thing is, a person still can only drink so much milk.”
Photo by: Tessa Hahn
The lack of passion he has for his cows perhaps comes from knowing the dairy life, and only the dairy life, all too well. Brothers James and Rob grew up on a farm, and have since moved to pastures passed down through three generations of Baerwolf men and women, to open up Sassy Cow Creamery to allow their farmstead dairy to continue to grow—a business decision at its core.
But he does have a passion for the joy Sassy Cow Creamery brings to his customers eager to eat, drink and be merry. Describing the year-long process of growing and harvesting grains, feeding the cattle and turning that into milk, Baerwolf hinted at the smallest pinch of a smile, knowing what all his hard work eventually becomes.
“You took that milk and maybe you made ice cream with it. And then, a person enjoys it. And, you were able to make that happen. It’s kind of a lot of steps, but it’s something that you did. To make something that people like, that’s a pretty good thing,” says Baerwolf.
Without the slightest mention of the awards his creamery annually accumulates from the World Dairy Expo, not that his chocolate milk won first place in 2008 or that his vanilla ice cream took the gold in 2012, Baerwolf remains humble and refuses the idea that he and his family have truly made it.
“There really isn’t that kind of moment with farming because you are always growing and taking on additional debt. With the creamery here, we’re about four years into it. Four years is not a long enough time to say that everything worked out, and you’re going to be around. We’re just not the type of personality to say it all worked out good, and everything’s in good shape,” says Baerwolf.
But maybe let’s get a cows opinion, too.
Superior Sassy Cows
It seems to be a typical day on the Baerwolf family farm. A cow sits in the middle of a field, looking around, enjoying the day and breathing in farm fresh air. Things seem normal.
Photo by: Tessa Hahn
They’re not.
This cow, while contently parked amidst the green pasture of her own fine dairy land, is feeling far from sassy and really rather silly. Stuck in a drain with her bottom half plopped in the dregs of a dairy drain with her upper half propped in the middle of a farm, she awaits reprieve.
“We came in the driveway, and here was this cow sticking out of the ground looking at ya. And, that was kind of not a normal thing to see,” says Baerwolf with just a hint of a smile as he shares the memory.
Whether it was just a normal day on the family farm or not, it remains that these cows have sass, though Baerwolf doesn’t always see it that way. “Generally, I don’t associate humor with the cows ’cause they sort of make a person more frustrating,” says Baerwolf.
The cows run this farm, but it’s not the man behind the milk business or even the seller of the chocolate milk from a just-off-of-State Street food cart who show what being a sassy cow is all about.
It’s the milk that comes from the very sassy cows. They’re the reason why Lawrence chooses Sassy Cow Creamery.
“Because they’re the best. I’m not going to take some organic horizon milk in a juice box, taste it, and say it’s good enough when I know there’s something better out there,” says Lawrence with an enthusiastic tone.
The something better out there? The cows. And according to the subdued cow-man himself, “Pretty much anything you could want to know about a cow, a person is very similar.”
I’m just not sure those sassy cows would agree.
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