I met my wife while working at a cabinet shop. I installed the wood work in her parents’ house. We were both dating other people at the time, but began talking and immediately hit it off. Her parents owned a dairy farm and little did I know, this would lead to a new passion in my life.
What Happened Next No One Could Predict
Shortly after meeting the woman who would one day be my wife, I would spend every free moment I had working on the farm. I started milking cows on nights and weekends. It took me several nights of going to the barn and lots of courage to ask her father’s permission for her hand in marriage. I had fallen in love with my wife, but also the farming lifestyle. I quit my job as a carpenter and started farming full time in 2010.
Love Grows
Currently we farm about 1,000 acres along with my father-in-law. Unfortunately, due to urban sprawl, we sold the milking herd in 2015, but still raise heifers and a few other cattle. I wouldn’t give up seeing a calf take it first steps for anything. Life is short but the memories we create last forever.
The next generation
My wife and I are the fourth generation to work on the same farm that her family homesteaded before Wisconsin became a state. We have been blessed with three 
beautiful children, who all enjoy farming so much that they can’t seem to get enough, so we hope and pray they will have the opportunity to become the fifth generation to care for our land and livestock. Sometimes the kids have even gone so far as to ask if I can call them in sick from school for “farmitis” or “gotaharvest”. Not growing up on a farm myself I truly love seeing their passion for this lifestyle. They have all taken calves to the fair, which comes with learning the struggles of halter breaking while never giving up on their passion. They also share their agriculture stories with classmates and my family. It amazes me how much they have learned and seen. They fight over who gets to name which calves and who gets to be the first one to feed a bottle to a certain calf. These are experiences they cannot get anywhere else, but on the farm. There have been tears shed when a calf dies, but they have had to learn to pull their boots up because it’s all part of life.
Sharing my story
Life on a farm is a unique experience. It is not a career, but rather a way of life and even though I didn’t have a traditional start in agriculture it doesn’t make me any less passionate. Being able to call myself a farmer is humbling, but hearing someone else call me a farmer only strengthens my passion. Don’t be afraid to tell your story and strengthen your passion. After all, farmers have plenty of stories to tell.
Sean Beres
Sean Beres and his wife Jennifer have three children; Lloyd 10, Lillian 8 and Lacy 5. The couple lives in Waukesha on Jennifer’s parents’ dairy farm. Currently they only milk a few cows, but run about 1000 acres of crops. Not coming from a farming background, Sean fell in love with the devotion and passion farmers have for their crops and animals along with what they mean to their community.
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