Tim and Katlyn Kinsella have known each other since high school, where they both studied in the agricultural program and both were in 4-H. “We joke that our farm is our 4-H projects gone horribly wrong,” says Katlyn. When they started their own farm, they merged their two small herds of registered Brown Swiss (Katlyn’s) and Ayrshires (Tim’s) and bought some Holsteins from the farmer from whom they took over. Shortly after that, they merged their lives even more closely by getting married.
When they started their own operation, Tim worked full-time on the farm while Katlyn worked off-farm part-time as a milk tester, traveling around the county drawing and analyzing milk samples and providing that information back to the farms. “I got to visit lots of farms and help them with their herd management, while also getting to learn about many different ways to manage a dairy,” says Katlyn. These kinds of insights helped the young couple build their own knowledge base.
Shortly after they began farming together, the couple remodeled the barn and installed waterbeds for each cow. They call it ‘Operation Comfy Cow,’ and each cow has her own stall with her name on it. They also show cows at the county fair and at the regional Big E, and often welcome 4-H groups to the farm, as well as classes from their old high school. “The dairy farming community in this area is very close knit,” says Katlyn. “Everybody is willing to share information and lend each other a hand when needed.”