South Dakota Farmers Union Celebrates the Schaefers Farm Family

October 25, 2016 – By #South Dakota Farmer Union

By Lura Roti, for South Dakota Farmers Union

When Cheryl and Fred Schaefers tied the knot 40 years ago, the two farm kids shared a strong passion for farming. And, along with crops and livestock, the couple wanted to raise a large family.

“We originally wanted 12 kids. Fred is the youngest of 9 and I am the second oldest of six ­ we wanted a house full of noise and love,” Cheryl says.

Today, the active grandparents reflect on raising their seven children on the farm and say they wouldn’t change a thing. Their children include: Belle Schaefers, Josie Ries, Maureen “Mo” Wernsmann, Sam Schaefers, Paul Schaefers, Paivi Stone and Jacob Schaefers.

“What better way of life is there?” Fred asks.

“The kids all learned to care for life and that every life is important ­ because they understood that it mattered to the farm’s bottom line,” Cheryl added.

The early years were busy, but happy. All seven of their children were born two years apart. “Whatever we were doing, I’d just pack up the kids and bring them along. We even put a swing in the milk parlor so the baby could watch us and swing while we milked,” Cheryl says.

The couple began milking their first Holstein just 10 days after they married. It was 1976 and Fred says Hand County was full of small 50 to 75-cow dairies. “There was money in dairying. It was a good steady income.

At one time there were at least 30 to 40 dairies in Hand County.” Slowly, they expanded their dairy herd to 80 cows.

The entire family helped with milking. As a young kid, Paul recalls carrying buckets of grain to each stanchion. “Then we installed an automatic feeder,” Paul remembers.

“You were replaced by technology,” his wife, Blair, jokes.

Paul and Blair celebrated their first anniversary this May. Like Paul, Blair grew up on a farm. “This way of life isn’t new to me,” explains Blair, who works as a nurse for Faulkton Area Medical Center and Good Samaritan nursing home in Miller.

Paul says the farming lifestyle was one reason he wanted to return to his family’s farm full-time after completing a deployment. Paul and four of his siblings are veterans.

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Last Modified: 10/26/2016 8:37:16 am MDT