Innovative: Northern Michigan's Foundation, Farming

Each spring, Mark and Toni Drier remember what it’s like to be new parents. With 20 heifers giving birth to calves in the annual cycle of life, the Driers find themselves encouraging the moms and making sure deliveries go smoothly, through all hours of the night.

Their own livelihood depends on it.

“If they don’t produce,” Toni says bluntly about the cattle, “they don’t live here.”

The Driers manage one of the largest cow-calf operations in Northern Michigan, with hundreds of acres in the northern tier of Emmet County. Their five children, three of whom are still at home, are homeschooled, and a big part of their daily lesson is first-hand experience in the challenges and rewards of running a farm.

As a cow-calf operation, the Driers keep a herd of heifers for reproduction, and male calves are transferred to the feeder herd once they’re weaned. At 17 months old, they are sold through a broker to a feed lot for butchering; between 70 and 100 are sold each fall.

It’s a tough lesson, but one that the at-home children—Anthony, 12, Carlisle, 10, and Markela, 14,—have learned to understand. They represent the fourth generation at the Levering property started by their dad’s grandpa. (And the fifth generation has been born, too.)

“My grandfather came up around 13 years old to work in the logging camps,” said Mark. “He worked on the Chief Wawatam and slowly started buying land.”

Mark’s parents, Edward and Joyce, continued the farmstead, and Joyce still lives on the property next door (Edward has passed away). Much here has stayed the same.

“We still do a lot of things the old-fashioned way,” said Mark. “I enjoy working with the old equipment.”

Farming Through the years, they’ve tried various varieties of beef cattle and have settled on Angus, because of their size; a yearling can get close to 700 pounds and reach 900 pounds by 17 months. They also grow feed crops—grasses, oats and rye—and spend many days in the summer months mowing, raking and baling in an orchestrated family effort. “We’re truly a team,” said Toni.

Between the many obligations to their animals and their land, the Driers are like many Northern Michigan families, capitalizing on the natural beauty and many opportunities here such as Girl Scouts, camping and volunteering with the Pellston SummerFest.

All the children say they expect to continue the family farm when it’s left to them. It’s something Mark always knew, too.

“This lifestyle is from the heart,” said Mark, in the farmhouse where he has lived since age 3. “This is what I know. I wouldn’t do anything else. And this is a good place to raise your kids. The peace and tranquility of what we have to offer in Emmet County is just phenomenal.”

Innovative: Northern Michigan's Foundation, Farming

Related Articles - Local Business Innovation