ARGYLE — As the third-generation farmer along Puddledock Road, Mark Flanagan said he always knew he wanted to milk cows and harvest crops.

He said just one semester away at college in the early 1990s made that clear. While his father John and uncle Joe help out with farm work, Flanagan has been the owner of the farm since 2011, operating the tie-stall barn in the same way they have “always done it.” The family farm was established in 1927 and originally run by his grandfather Chester. 

“The hard part is that I think I’ll be the last,” Flanagan said. 

His son, now in college, and daughter entering her senior year of high school, will likely not take the reins from their father, and Flanagan said he “can’t blame them.”

In part because of the tumultuous lifestyle of trying to make a profit in dairy farming. Both milk and crop prices have been in a slump. In 2018, Wisconsin lost almost 700 dairy farms at a historical rate of nearly two per day. Though the state is home to the most dairy farms of any state throughout the country, according to the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, it continues to be a difficult feat for farmers to stay out of the red. 

“It was working very hard to break even,” Flanagan said.

The low price of milk began in 2014, aided in its decrease by an overproduction due, in part, to a steady increase of large operations in California since the early 1990s, and a difficult international market. 

Flanagan milks about 100 cows and oversees roughly 350 acres of corn, hay and oats. For operations like his, the production numbers are seen as too low to survive, a big change he remarked on from the 1990s, when most farms had about 40 milking cows in the barn. Flanagan said he has seen neighbors give in, no longer seeing a possible profit in the future to help them out of the debt they incurred trying to keep the farm running.  

It had been an especially rough year as Flanagan had to let go of his favored cow Penny, who was 17 years old. Spanning years beyond the average for dairy cattle, Penny was present for nearly every milestone Flanagan’s daughter had in her life. It was hard to watch the trailer drive off on June 13, knowing she would never be back, he said.

“I just lost it,” Flanagan said, adding that it was out of concern for her failing health that she was taken off the farm where she had spent most of her life. 

But he has gotten a little bit lucky recently; for the last three months, his milk has been sold for an additional $2.50 per 100 pounds, increasing to more than $19 per 100 pounds, to Klondike Cheese Co., the Monroe-based family business. Flanagan said his farm produces roughly 6,000 pounds per day

“It’s been tough, but … I’m back to I can make money with what I’m producing,” Flanagan said with a smile as he checked on the seven calves in their pens beginning to beller for their mid-day meal. “We’re still here. Still fighting.”

Green County Ag Agent Jackie McCarville said milk prices have been increasing in recent months, but that it will likely only be a temporary reprieve. 

“Prices have gone up, but so has the cost of hay, protein, so it’s a wash,” McCarville said. “I think it’s good as long as you’re not someone who has to produce hay right now.”

Hay growth has been affected by the wet conditions of 2019. She said success with increased milk prices depends greatly on how much acreage a farm can support. Class 3 milk prices were $13.89 in February and are expected to reach $16.30 in June. For Class 4, it is a smaller jump from $15.48 to $16.80. McCarville said numbers may slightly increase, with projections putting milk into the possible high 17s by the end of the year.

Flanagan is hopeful for a positive future, he said, as he watched a few dozen cattle gather around their food trough on June 19. 

“I’m in the lucky situation that I can continue until I retire or if I decide it doesn’t make sense anymore,” Flanagan said. “I think I’ll be here.”