Constant positivity shines out of dairy farmer Tina Hinchley, even in the toughest of times. Hinchley owns a 240 cow operation along with her husband, Duane, in Cambridge. In a time when a pandemic grips the globe and dairy farmers have found themselves in less than favorable situations, Hinchley does her best to look for the good.
Hinchley believes that there are silver linings throughout all of this. “When all of this (COVID-19) happened people didn’t run out to get iPhones…they went to the store and they stockpiled” products such as cheese, milk, beef, and eggs. The very products that Wisconsin farmers work tirelessly to produce. This affirms to farmers that they are needed now more than ever before.
Throughout all of this Tina has noticed a more open dialogue between the producer and the consumer. “As they’re going to the grocery store and seeing that those items are not where they usually are, they’re questioning their grocer” as to why this is. Hinchley continues in saying that this has helped people understand that the food sold in grocery store goes far beyond the shelves. “That’s a big supply chain,” Hinchley says, referring to the movement of products from the farm to the store. “Until we work through this we’re all gonna learn a little bit more about where the food comes from and how it gets there.”
The news that one of her daughters, Anna, is coming back to the farm to succeed her parents in running the dairy is also another reason Hinchley exhumes positivity. “If I could do back flips I would do it,” Tina says with a smile. “This is our passion…and when they want to join us and they want to carry on the legacy of the farm it is all that we ever wish for.”
Josh Scramlin recently caught up with Tina Hinchley; to hear their full conversation click the play button below:
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