Bowknott Dairy has been in the Boitnott family for over a 100 years now, my first ancestor moved to Franklin County in the early 1800s and started a farm, and that’s how the Boitnott’s have always been known as, farmers. Much like other farmers, our faith in God runs deep, our values are portrayed in everything we do, our devotion to our land and animals is immense, and the work we do is always our best. Dairy farmers are builders, veterinarians, horticulturist, nutritionist, mechanics, and at times inventors, all rolled up into one job. A day in the life of a dairy farmer can consist of getting up at the break of dawn to help a laboring cow, to then getting a call to go fix a tractor that broke, to then vaccinating new heifers, to then mixing feed, to then helping sort cows for a veterinarian visit, and the list goes on, and did I mention that all this happened before noon? You see dairy farmers are no stranger to 16 hour days, and hard manual work, and what amazes me about them, is they still have such faith in God, despite the troubles they face. My father is one of these people and in my opinion a role model for everyone, cause he amazes me every day with his steadfast, hardworking, devotion to family and God. So, you may be asking why do you need to pray for dairy farmers? Because dairy farmers as a whole are silently struggling. Milk prices for dairy farmers have dropped significantly in the past years, causing farms to go out of business, and the ones that are still in business are struggling to stay afloat. Dairy farmers are essential to society, I had a professor once tell me that because the role of “farmers” was created civilization was allowed to form, because it gave people to have the chance to think about other things then you know, how they were going to eat that day. Whether you realize it somehow every day, the hard work of a farmer ends up in front of you. So, I’m asking you to simply pray for these people, they are so discouraged, I have seen it first hand. They work 16 hour days to sometimes only lose money. Pray for God to provide for them, pray to God to give them hope and healing, pray to God to help the dairy industry. An industry filled with good people, and beautiful land. An industry that I am unbelievably passionate about.
Stay lovely,
Brittany Boitnott
Ps: Overwhelmed with the number of positive comments I have received for this article, for more uplifting articles about agriculture, college life, faith, and life in general, feel free to follow my blog or my Instagram account at @brittany_boitnott
Boitnott Your Average Girl 
God bless you, your family and all that feed us across this world. Many have no understanding of the work and love involved in the farmer. Keep your head up and pray that the consumers of farms products of this world recognize food as God’s gifts brought to them by the love of a farmer.
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I know how hard your dad and grandad have worked. God will take care of them someway. You need to hang in there and have faith. We all need to just pray for the farmers.
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Amen. From one dairy farmer to another, keep your head up. Better days are coming.
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Thanks for sharing, I once lived this life and agree with everything you wrote 100 %
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Hope for better times sometimes is the only reason farmers keep going
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Having been a dairy farmer, it can be a tough occupation, but a rewarding occupation. Currently with the long term milk price being so low it gets very discouraging. We are use to riding the price cycle in Ag, but not with poor prices this long. This will not last for ever, but we are all asking the same question, can we hang on till this thing turns around, as we watch our equity get less and less, and what if the bank won’t continue to work with us. (Some have gone to FHA to get loan guarantees. This may help some ride this thing through.) Please Please understand if you happend to be in a situation that you can’t ride this out, it isn’t your fault. You are not a failure. Even doing every thing correctly on your farm ,with these prices depending on your financial situation can be tough. Remember, your family, husband, wife, parents and most of all children are the most important asset you have.
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My husband has been a farmer since a little boy
. He grew up being a farmer. It is a very hard life but you always look ahead and try to have the best cows you can. Randy did every thing right . Spent money that we did not have but he had big hopes of just selling a cow for what he thought they were worthy, it really was not the money in our pocket but just to see he did something right. His cows were marked in the 90s when they came out to grade them
but that did not make a difference, he is in the process of selling out, it cost more than what you get, I feel sorry for him cause his cows were the love of his life. I understand it but he just CANNOT keep going on. The milk cost went down. He is disappointed but he did everything he could do. He is selling out a little at a time, but the money is not there so it is hard to sell and get what you think you deserve,lt is just not there anymore for us little farmers.Say a prayer for us cause our life is going to change.
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Hoha Dairy Farm in Rocky Mount announced today that they will shut down in 2 months. My husband has been there 35 yrs. Now no job. I don’t know what we will do.
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