Growing Forward: A Conversation with My Dad

Growing up on my family's dairy farm, I witnessed firsthand the many changes my parents made to keep the operation sustainable and profitable. At the time, those decisions simply felt like part of everyday farm life. Now, as a part-owner of the farm with my husband, Dominick, I see change in a different light. Each change, whether it involved cow comfort, soil health or cropping systems, helped shape a farm that could continue to thrive while caring for the land that supports it.

That commitment to stewardship reflects the same values we celebrate on Earth Day and aligns with many of the principles of regenerative agriculture: building healthy soils, supporting resilient ecosystems and ensuring the land remains productive for generations to come.

Recently, I sat down with my dad, David Olson, to talk about our farm and the thinking behind the way we operate today. In 2009, our farm completed the transition to organic, and we were one of the first dairy farms in our area to make the change.

When I asked my dad why our farm ultimately made the transition, he reflected on the economic realities farmers faced in the 1990s.

"In the 1990s, economic challenges led us to explore new ways to improve cow comfort and soil health," he explained. "Over time those practices aligned with organic principles, so when the price gap between organic and conventional milk grew in 2006, we decided to take the leap and we haven't looked back since."

That decision set our farm on a new path, one that continues today as the next generation becomes involved. My husband, Dominick, and I officially joined the operation in 2021, shortly after we were married. Today, we work alongside my parents to carry forward the organic systems they established while also looking for ways to incorporate new technology and efficiencies that support the farm's future.

Organic farming is both challenging and rewarding. It requires careful management of soil health, crop rotations and livestock care. Farmers cannot

rely on many of the chemical tools or medications commonly used in conventional systems, which means prevention and observation play an even larger role in daily management.

For my dad, the shift to organic farming was ultimately about adopting a different way of thinking about the farm ecosystem and the reward did not come immediately.

"It took a while to see the benefits, in terms of actually, not days, but years, to kind of figure out how we were gonna achieve our objectives, which are healthy cows that are both productively and reproductively sound because as long as that's the case, you will have profitability," explained my dad.

"In the fields, we shifted our mindset. Rather than trying to keep killing off things we perceive as detrimental," he told me, "maybe we should focus on enhancing the good things in the soil, creating an environment where both the soil life and the plants can thrive. It's really more of a holistic mindset."

Now that Dominick and I are becoming more established in the farm business, we find ourselves asking many of the same questions the previous generation once faced: Where are we today and what improvements will help us succeed tomorrow?

Our goal is to continue that legacy of thoughtful change, seeking ways to improve our operation through regenerative farming practices that build soil health, strengthen our land and livestock systems, and ensure the farm remains viable, resilient and thriving for generations to come.

Erica and Dominick Gentry farm with Erica's parents, David and Sherry Olson, at Vaarendahl Dairy LLC in Black River Falls, where they milk 80 organic cows, raise their own livestock, and grow the feed for their herd. Erica is a Jackson County Farm Bureau Member and serves on the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Sustainability Committee.