In the darkness of the current dairy crisis, one Indiana dairy farmer with a passion for teaching is bringing light to the state’s dairy industry. In the beginning, she seemed like an unlikely candidate to become one of Indiana’s biggest dairy cheerleaders.

“Walking up the stairs at Purdue University to my new apartment, I had no idea my life would change forever,” Jill Houin says. She grew up in New Jersey and had never been on a farm until 2004, when she married an Indiana dairy farmer, Brian Houin, whom she met at Purdue.

She did not adjust quickly to farm life. “It took me a long time to understand that if there was a problem at the farm, he was going to be late for dinner,” Houin explains. She was full of questions about what their family farm was doing and why.

One day, Houin got to hear her husband speak about the dairy industry to a group of other dairy producers. “I finally understood — the long hours, the smelly clothes and the hard work he was putting in was the love for the animals,” she says. “This was a lifestyle, not just a job. I wanted to see more!”

On their anniversary, as they were driving home, Houin asked to stop and see the calves. “Sitting in our nice clothes in the calf barn made me realize the importance of what he does as a farmer and helped me love the farm and him more,” she says.

Farm involvement

As she learned and began to share the passion of caring for the animals, land and community, Houin realized she’d had no idea how amazing dairy farmers truly were. She found a passion to share this realization with others. After retiring from teaching in 2016, Houin became the calf manager for her husband’s family farm, Homestead Dairy, in Plymouth, Ind. She was soon running all of the farm’s social media, managing its website and giving farm tours to different classes and groups.

The pandemic brought many challenges, but Houin believes it opened up more opportunities to share knowledge about the industry. She even had the opportunity to meet with students nationally through a live virtual tour, put on by the American Dairy Association in Indiana, about what happens at Homestead Dairy.

“As we have gone virtual during this pandemic, it has given so many farmers the opportunity to also share their stories and virtually meet with those interested in what our families do,” Houin says.

Houin has done many online tours since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “What is interesting is that I was doing virtual prior to the pandemic, but they have been way more popular during this time,” she notes.

Schools all over the state are taking advantage of these virtual farm tours. “It showed a farm that we do not see often in southeast Indiana,” a teacher said through tour evaluations sent out by the American Dairy Association in Indiana. Virtual tours allow students to enjoy a field trip despite the current restrictions.

“Thank you for all the time it took to create this field trip, since Indiana kids have not been able to take field trips at school,” another Indiana teacher said.

Social media guru

Another task of Houin’s is to keep the farm’s website updated and add information about what is going on at their farm and in the industry. By visiting the website, one can learn about the farm’s robotic dairy, its digester and even about its four calf barns.

On the website, the community can learn more about a fun activity that resulted from Homestead Dairy tours. “Name a Calf” allows people to pick a calf and give it a name. They’re able to take a picture with their calf, and then Houin records their new name. This activity gives people a chance to learn more about these animals and creates a personal connection.

Houin also promotes the dairy industry in other ways. This year, she served as the 2020 Indy 500 Milk Woman, handing a bottle of milk to the winning driver after the race.

“It was an amazing honor to represent Indiana dairy family farms at the iconic Indy 500 this year,” Houin says. “So many people needed the joy of the race as a distraction from this trying time. To be able to bring dairy to the Winner’s Circle this year and celebrate with the winner through this amazing tradition of ‘Winners Drink Milk’ was humbling.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Houin and her husband also recently bought a local pub and grill, The Breakroom Pub and Grill, located in Argos, Ind. Through this new adventure, Houin is finding opportunities to continue promoting the dairy industry with a farm-to-fork menu. A few feature items include “boozy root beer floats,” steaks, cheese curds and, of course, cheeseburgers. The Breakroom’s logo was inspired by the Holstein cows at the Houin family farm. The logo features the head of one of the Holstein cows with a beer tap creating the nose.

“Now, this city girl raises calves and helps educate consumers, like I am and was, about the hard work that farmers put in every day to put nutrient-rich food on the table,” Houin says. She wants people to understand what farmers do and why they do it because at one time, she did not understand any of it herself. During these hard times, Houin plans to continue to spread her message, helping to strengthen the dairy industry.

Nifong is a senior in agricultural communication at Purdue University.