It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in our lives as spring brings so many dairy-related events and sales to attend. One recent event was not only fun to cover, but was truly a let-your-breathe-out-and-relax-moment.

Recently, I packed my overnight sack again and headed south to Ohio, but this time my side kick was my husband. I tore him away from the farm long enough for him to concentrate on something other than the mundane details of his farm life.

We headed to the Ohio Holstein Assoc. Convention in the hills of central Ohio. After attending the convention sale where he caught up with all his cohorts, we traversed the back roads of Richland County to Berg Farms, where they were hosting an open house. 

No, there were no new parlors, no new robotic milkers, no new tie stall barn with marble pillars and gold plated feed mangers and lavish flower arrangements at the corner of every box stall. It was a farm where good cows are milked, heifers are fed and a family is grown.  

We drove in and found a few straw bales sitting around with a picnic table here and there and a buffet of food set up in the old milk house. 

As the Holstein breeders gathered at the farm, some people meandered through the cows, others participated in the judging contest that was set up in the barnyard and still others claimed a bale of straw for the evening. It was an unusually warm March night with the sun setting on the scenic countryside. 

As I looked around I saw farmers from every corner of the state of Ohio visiting with each other, none of them in a hurry, no one was looking at their watch to see when they had to leave to make it home to do chores, it was a treat to enjoy this sweet fellowship.

I sat at a picnic table and visited with a fellow journalist and her husband and listened to her tell tales of days gone by of Holstein breeders who came and went. When the conversation waned, we just enjoyed the scenery until someone came up with another piece of conversation.

For three hours we sat, talked and truly relaxed. The only time I looked at my phone was to see if it was past chore time and when it was and no one had called, then I knew we were home free for the night and we could erase any anxieties of troubles at home and focus on the people around us and their stories.

Little boys chased each other around the yard, little girls sat and talked while parents enjoyed a carefree night. There were no games, no speakers, no regimented tours, just an honest night on the farm for a bunch of farmers.

Maybe it was the warm temps, maybe it was the company or maybe it was an evening designed just for a group of hardworking dairy producers, orchestrated by the Master to offer a much needed break to his well-deserved stewards.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.