I stopped selling raw milk. Even so, I didn't quit farming.

I quit being a dairy farmer.

When I say that, many people look a little surprised.

So, did you quit farming, too?

Sometimes I am asked that.

But the answer is no.

I didn't quit farming.

In fact, I feel more like I am farming now than I ever did before.

I just changed my way of life a little bit.

I stopped shipping raw milk, which I had done for many years, and went from being a dairy farmer to a shepherd.

And now, my wife and I are facing cows and sheep in a different way than before.

A dairy farming life that started with becoming a new farmer

I started dairy farming as a new entrant to the industry.

Not knowing left from right, I raised cows, managed the barn, grew pasture grass, and milked them every day.

The mornings are early.

There are almost no days off.

Cows don't wait for you, 365 days a year.

Even if you are sick, tired, or if it is snowing or raining, the care of the cows continues.

Even so, it wasn't that I hated dairy farming.

In fact, I loved cows.

I raised cows, produced raw milk from them, and shipped it.

That was what "farming" meant to me.

And I have continued that life for many years.

And then, I stopped shipping raw milk.

That was me, and I stopped shipping raw milk.

Since it was a job I had done for many years, naturally, it was not an easy decision.

"I've come this far..."

I had feelings like that, too.

I have a cowshed.

I have pasture land.

I have everything I have built up until now.

Even so, I started to think little by little.

"What kind of farming do I want to do from here on out?"

Is increasing the scale the only right answer for farming?

Increasing production, increasing sales, increasing profits.

Of course, that is also important for continuing to farm.

But is that all there is to it?

I will become a "shepherd"

So, I decided to shift my focus to sheep.

From dairy farmer to shepherd.

I will gradually change my farming, which has been centered on cows, to one centered on sheep.

Of course, I am not getting rid of all the cows.

I will keep a few cows, such as Guernseys and Brown Swiss.

However, they are no longer positioned as 'cows for shipping raw milk' as they were before.

I will have them eat grass as much as possible.

I will raise them in a way that is close to their natural state, focusing on pasture.

It is what is known as grass-fed.

And we are thinking of trying to have a different kind of relationship with those cows once again.

My wife makes cheese.

And my wife will also continue what she has been doing until now.

Making cheese.

Making ice cream, too.

'So, are you going to sell those?'

You might think that.

However, we are basically not aiming to 'sell' them.

If someone wants them, we will provide them for free.

Of course, we are not making them in such large quantities that we can distribute them to many people.

Therefore, if you think of it as a business, it is very inefficient.

Raw materials are also needed.

It also takes effort.

It also takes time.

Even so, I keep producing.

Why?

Because it's fun.

The same as vegetables from a home garden

Come to think of it, it's similar to growing vegetables in a home garden.

I grow vegetables to eat them myself.

If I harvest a lot of tomatoes, I ask my neighbors, "Would you like some?" and hand them over.

If I harvest too many cucumbers, I take them to my friends.

"I grew these myself, so please have some."

There is no business in that.

"I'll sell them for 100 yen."

I don't say that.

Just,

"They're delicious, so try them."

That's all.

Our cheese and ice cream are close to that feeling, too.

The choice of "not selling"

When you're farming, you inevitably think about "how much it will sell for."

That's only natural.

I have a life to live.

There is a business to run.

There are machinery costs.

There are feed costs.

There are fuel costs.

Therefore, as long as I continue farming as a job, money is important.

I, too, have always thought about money while farming until now.

But now that I have been farming for a long time, I think this.

The value of agriculture cannot be measured by sales alone.

Someone is happy.

They say, "It was delicious."

They say, "I want to eat it again."

They look at the cows and sheep we raised with care and say, "Those are good cows," or "They are cute." Sometimes visitors even come by saying, "Please let us see the sheep."

There is real value in those moments, too.

Working for value, not for money

From now on, we don't want to work "only for money," but rather,

to "work for value."

We want to try farming like that.

Of course, I am not denying the importance of money.

We cannot live without money.

We cannot continue farming either.

So, I will earn the money I need properly.

But I don't want to live a life where everything is judged by whether it makes money or not.

Raising sheep.

Growing grass.

Keeping cows.

Making cheese.

Making ice cream.

And then, handing it to someone and saying, "Here you go."

Just that alone makes me a little happy.

I think it's okay to have that kind of agriculture.

It's okay to have "hobby-like farming"

Perhaps, seeing what we are doing now,

"That won't work as a business,"

some people might say.

Maybe they are right.

But lately, I have been thinking,

"Isn't it okay to have hobby-like farming?"

I think.

Of course, I won't make everything a hobby.

I will continue the farming that supports my livelihood.

I will also increase the number of sheep.

I will also use the land.

As long as I am entrusted with the lives of animals, I will raise them responsibly.

On top of that, I will also value the things that we find 'fun'.

When I first started farming,

'making a living through farming'

was all I was desperate to do.

Now, it's a little different.

'How do I want to live while farming?'

is what I am thinking about.

I quit dairy farming. But, I haven't lost everything.

By stopping the shipment of raw milk, there are things I have lost.

A life where a milk collection truck comes every morning.

The job of shipping raw milk.

Myself as a 'dairy farmer'.

Those were certainly a big part of my life.

But, those years until now have not gone to waste.

The experience of raising cows.

The experience of growing pasture grass.

The connections with the people in the community.

The time I spent continuing dairy farming with my wife.

It all connects to who I am today.

It's not that I quit dairy farming,

but that I moved on to the next stage as a dairy farmer.

That is how I think about it.

From now on, with sheep

From now on, I will live as a shepherd.

I have goals, too.

I will increase the number of sheep.

I will make the most of the pasture.

I will also work on sheep production, focusing on meat.

And, I will keep just a few cows.

My wife will make cheese and ice cream.

If someone wants them, I will gladly give them some.

"This was made from our cows."

"Try this."

I want to do farming where such conversations are born.

It is not farming aimed at large sales.

It is not farming to be evaluated by someone else, either.

It is farming that we can feel good about.

Farming should be allowed to take more free forms.

Farming must be this way.

I don't think there are any such rules.

It can be large-scale.

It can be small-scale.

You can sell a lot.

You can deliver just a little to those who need it.

You can raise many cows.

You can raise sheep.

You can grow vegetables.

You can make cheese.

And,

there can also be the choice of "not selling."

For a long time, I thought of farming as a "job."

But now, not only that,

I think of farming as "life" itself.

Things that money cannot buy

Sheep are eating grass.

Cows are leisurely eating pasture grass.

My wife is making cheese.

I am making ice cream.

Someone is happy to have it.

Watching that scene,

I think,

'Isn't this enough?'

In the past, the calculation of 'how much will this make?' would have entered into it.

Now, it's a little different.

'Someone was happy'

Sometimes that alone is enough.

It cannot be converted into money, but

there is certainly value there.

We will continue to work.

I stopped shipping raw milk.

My life as a dairy farmer has also ended.

But we will work.

We raise sheep.

We raise cows.

We grow grass.

My wife makes cheese.

She also makes ice cream.

And then, I hand it to someone and say, "Here you go."

Perhaps, our farming from here on out

will become "farming that works not just for money, but for value."

It will become that.

I have arrived at a place I never imagined when I first started farming.

But, strangely enough,

I am enjoying farming more now.

From dairy farmer to shepherd.

From "farming to sell" to "farming to deliver value."

The second half of my life.

We think we will start a slightly freer kind of farming.