GALAX, VA – Sarah Torres is the fourth generation of her family to farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia near the North Carolina border. The 2x/3x 150-cow Holstein dairy is solidly a family affair, with much of the work done by Sarah, her husband Armando, Sarah’s veterinarian sister Mary and her husband Brandon Tomlinson and Sarah’s and Mary’s brother Joe Dickenson Jr. There are also key employees who help with the milking and farming.
The farm officially transferred to the younger generation in 2017, but Sarah, Mary and Joe Jr.’s parents Joe Don and Pam Dickenson are still actively involved.
Sarah gives credit to Alex White of Virginia Tech and Kevin Spurlin, Grayson County Extension agent, for providing guidance with the transition process.
“The main thing I remember from the transition,” Sarah recalled, “was the weight of it – in a good way. I remember thinking ‘This is ours now.’”
While there have certainly been financial challenges for the family since 2017, last year, Sarah said, “it occurred to me that we don’t need to focus on why it’s been so hard. Our parents and ancestors had to fight for it, so it’s okay for us to fight for it too.”
A big key to the success of the family is their faith. “We just trust in the Lord,” Joe Don said. “I had no idea it would end up this way. It’s kind of unusual that all of the children would take part in the business. We’re blessed.”
Sarah echoed her father’s testament. “We just really put in in the Lord’s hands. We try to be diligent stewards of God’s creation.”
Of the four partners in the current generation – the three siblings and Mary’s husband – Sarah is the only one who did not study agriculture at Virginia Tech. She studied Spanish at UVA Wise. For several years after college she taught English as a second language in Surry County, NC. In 2017, she came to be on the farm full-time.
“There’s something comforting about the constancy of dairying,” she observed.
One of the best things about being on the farm for Sarah is being able to be around her family all day. “I’m a Daddy’s girl,” she admitted, while acknowledging that Mary is one as well.
Trust in God is a big part of what keeps the family and team at Cresthaven Farms going. Photo by Karl H. Kazaks
The farm is also, Sarah said, a kind of “love story,” and today is a combination of three operations – the farm of Joe Don’s family, the farm of Pam’s family and the farm of Pam’s uncle’s family.
Joe Don and Pam (née Richardson) grew up and went to Galax High School together but didn’t have much contact in those years. He went to Virginia Tech, and she went to Radford and became a teacher.
When Jon Don came home from Blacksburg he quickly ended up running his family’s dairy, solo. At one point his mother suggested, “You ought to call up that Richardson girl.” He listened, reached out to Pam and began courting. Not long after they wed, he ended up buying out her parents, and then later her uncle.
The dairy is called Cresthaven to celebrate its location on a crest with an expansive, all-around view.
The parlor is a double-5 herringbone, recently upgraded with a (used) Afimilk monitor and takeoff system. The farm had been one of the first dairies in Virginia to switch to 3x milking, but as of January of this year they switched to a 2x/3x because of labor constraints. Sarah is the relief milker, taking on Sunday mornings and Friday evenings as well as last-minute shifts.
The bulk of the herd is milked 2x, but 30 cows are milked 3x, starting and ending with them in the morning milking. That group of cows is kept separate in the dairy’s large bedded pack barn. There is also a group of 10 heifers which are milked 2x in the evening in the same first-and-last pattern. (There are a couple older cows in with the heifers to keep them docile.)
“The second milking for the heifers in the evening isn’t that impressive,” Sarah reported, “but their morning production is definitely improved.”
The dairy keeps track of all manner of statistics with CowManager®. In particular, the family likes how the software has improved their reproductive efficiency.
Sarah recalled that when she was a child she wanted to be a teacher and a farmer. “I am very grateful that I have done both,” she said.
Today, she stays in contact with the educational community by coordinating a lot of farm tours on the home farm. The dairy is one of only three left in the county, so there aren’t many options left for area children to learn where their milk comes from.
Since taking over the farm, the current generation has made some modifications to the operation. They are currently using shredded OSB for bedding. In 2018, they started a beef operation, breeding Holstein heifers to Angus bulls. This summer they are installing inline fans in the barn for better ventilation.
In the future, they hope to convert their parlor to a double-8 parallel. They are also looking at developing a creamery at the farm.
In the meantime, the Bible verse on their milk tank – Colossians 3:23 – gives them inspiration every day: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.”
by Karl H. Kazaks
Leave A Comment