The Kohn Family Farm continues their rich history in Pulaski.
“My parents moved here in 1954, so that’s kind of where we’ve been ever since. I took over the farm from them. I have a number of brothers and a sister also. Two of [my brothers] are farming now, one of them is not anymore, but basically it runs in our family,” Kohn explained.
Allen says originally his farm had a variety of livestock, but they’ve transitioned to become a farm that specializes in milking.
“We milk 350 cows or so three times a day. We’ve done that about 20 years now,” said Kohn. The other livestock kind of went away. Milk is our primary objective now and raising feed for the dairy cows.
With that size of operation, Kohn is not alone to do all the work.
“We have eight full-time employees, one part-time employee and we have an excellent heardsperson, so I think I have it kind of easy because I don’t have to do as much of the physical stuff as I used to.”
As the farm has grown, so too has the use of technology, and the kinds of different technology available, which Kohn has seen first-hand.
“We were raised in one of the best times in agriculture because when I was born, my dad got his first tractor,” Kohn said. “The horse were kind of going to the wayside, so it was really great for people to start with tractors, coming to this day where the machinery has gotten bigger and technologically advanced so you can do almost anything. You don’t even have to be in the tractor to drive it anymore.”
In general, there’s much to enjoy about farming, says Kohn. In particular, he enjoys being able to be his own boss.
“Being outside, being your own boss, making your own decisions, more so farmers tend to be independently minded and I think that’s what suits them. That’s why they can take some of the struggles with the good times a little easier because they really appreciate that fact,” Kohn explained. “Working with family, I still think being relatively close with your neighbors more so than maybe people that live in town may not have that opportunity because they don’t work with them quite as closely, so those are some of the better things.”
Allen says he’s looking forward to bringing the next generation into Kohn Farm in the future.