Oh how Ed loved his Brown Swiss cows. They were the heart of his milking program and he told me often they were his best friends in life, which could have been insulting if you didn’t know Ed.

They loved him back, nuzzling him, licking his face, doing their best to follow his orders. I went out to the Bejosh dairy farm where Ed’s son Chad and his wife Kate are working to keep the dairy operation going

Most farmers know, and some will even admit,  that milking cows is an addiction as well as a trade. It is brutal and unrelenting work, there is no money it. and it must be done twice a day, every day, in all kinds of uncomfortable weather.

Jesse, Ed’s youngest son came over to thank Maria and I the other day for getting their parents to go out to dinner on weekdays, something they rarely, if ever, did in their 47 year marriage. They could rarely bring themselves to let anyone else milk their cows, even family.

After each milking, the milking parlor has to be hosed and scrubbed until it glows, state and federal inspections are frequent and unforgiving. It is much more than a job, it is just as powerful an addiction as drugs or alcohol, but much more demanding.

Animal rights groups often target farmers because animal rights groups often have their heads stuck firmly up their asses. They have a well-deserved  reputation for knowing nothing about animals or farmers and only choosing targets that are easy and available.

They don’t seem to bother much with the giant agri-farms where billions of animals lived the most cruel and confined lives.

Perhaps those giant corporate farms are too far from cities and  TV cameras and rich and well-meaning donors. Many of these groups are happy to prey on farmers, who they spy on like Stalin’s secret police, and many farmers are afraid to leave their cows out in the snow or let a horse lie down to sleep.

Farmers are among the world’s greatest animal lovers, and unlike most animal lovers, they live with animals every day, all day. Ed adored his cows, he knew each of their names, birthed most of them, talked to them, scratched and hugged them, monitored their healthy as diligently as any parent. Carol is the same way.

Animals like cows are not pets to them, they are somewhere in between children and farm implements. They love them and relish giving them good and free lives, but they will send them to slaughter in a heartbeat if they can’t milk any longer.

To do otherwise is suicide, no farmer these days can afford to turn a cow into a pet.

So I was happy to go and see them yesterday, and say hello. They seemed happy to stare at me and come over hoping for nuzzle. Maybe tomorrow.