Hemsteads Holsteins

For more than 160 years, Meagan Hempfling's family has been dairy farming in Delphos, Ohio. 

Today, Meagan is the sixth generation, working alongside her grandfather, father and brother on the same farm her family has called home since 1862. 

It's a history she's proud to carry forward. But carrying on a tradition doesn't mean doing things the way they've always been done. 

For Meagan and her family, embracing technology has changed how they care for their cows, and how they live their lives. 

"Technology gives us more time to focus on what matters most, caring for our cows, and caring for our family, creating the best life we can," says Meagan. 

Technology with a Purpose 

Meagan remembers when the family milked twice a day in a traditional milking parlor. Today, four robotic milking systems allow the farm's approximately 250 Holstein cows to choose when they want to be milked. The change has transformed the family's daily routine.

The farm also uses an automated feed pusher that helps ensure cows have consistent access to fresh feed, while reducing the physical labor required to push feed throughout the day.

The result isn't less involvement from the farmer. It's the opportunity to use time differently.

Flexibility for Cows and People

Dairy farming doesn't stop at 5 p.m. Cows require care every day, regardless of holidays, family celebrations or what's happening beyond the barn. Technology can't change that responsibility. But it can provide flexibility.

"If we are doing something in the fields, or we want to go watch the kids in our family play football, we are allowed to adjust the times a little bit," Meagan says.

For her family, that flexibility has created something previous generations of dairy farmers didn't always have – greater ability to balance the needs of the farm with the people they love.

And Meagan is entering a particularly exciting chapter of her own life. She's getting married soon and already thinking about what the farm might look like for future generations.

She sees technology as part of making that future possible.

Three Generations, Side by Side

Technology may be changing how the Hempflings farm, but one thing hasn't changed, they do it together.

In fact, the technology isn't new to the Hempfling family. They've been milking cows robotically for about 12 years, giving them significant experience using the information the systems provide to manage individual cows. Meagan has seen how quickly technology continues to advance, and looking ahead, she's excited about what the next generation of tools could mean for animal health, milk production and reducing some of the physical demands placed on farmers.

Looking Toward a Bright Future

For Meagan, the future is becoming personal. She hopes the technology her family has embraced will someday benefit her nieces and nephews, and perhaps her own children.

"It will help them have a better work-life balance," she says, "and it will also help them to better manage the cows overall."

She also looks forward to continuing to grow the dairy alongside her family.

Six generations into its story, this is a farm deeply rooted in tradition. But honoring that history doesn't mean standing still. It means finding better ways to care for cows. It means giving family members greater flexibility to be there for one another. And it means building a farm where another generation can envision a future of its own.

Hemsteads Holsteins is one of six farms featured in Portraits of Modern Dairy, bringing the people, perspectives and daily realities behind today's dairy farms into public view.