Whether we’re talking about sports or farming, you don’t last long unless you’re willing to do what others won’t. There is no offseason. Not in football. And certainly not in dairy.
With football, the calendar may show a break between seasons, but the work never really stops. The games end, but preparation begins again almost immediately. A true professional is never out of shape. You recover, you reset and you stay disciplined year-round because you know someone is always working to take your job.
Similarly, producers care for their herd year-round, 365 days a year ensuring the best care possible. Nutrition, comfort, hydration, veterinary access. The correlation between athletes and dairy cows is closer than most people realize.
The first person I met when I walked into the Carolina Panthers dining facility was the team dietitian.
“Nutrition means everything here, your performance depends on it” she told me. That sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
The work is relentless, whether it’s on the field or in the field. Early mornings and long days in the August heat can feel like an NFL training camp on the dairy when nothing seems to be going right. Equipment isn’t working, something expensive breaks, animals are sick, barn roof needs repaired, milk prices are dropping… again, and that’s just a normal Tuesday.
What makes us get up and do it again on Wednesday is grit. It takes grit to be a pro, and it takes grit to be a producer. Calloused hands are earned. Whether on the farm or in the New York Giants weight room, we are not afraid of it. In fact, the work is why we do what we do.
Most of the time it goes unnoticed. Protesters yell on social media, fans boo after a loss. They’ve never stepped in our boots or our cleats, yet they know how to run a farm and play this incredibly physical game, but we don’t mind. We keep grinding. We do what needs done so they can eat three meals a day and be entertained on Sunday. And that too is why we do what we do. We put the work in, so others don’t have to.
I’ve been waived by NFL teams several times, and I know producers forced to sell their herds. In those times, when it felt like all we knew was slipping away, we would have welcomed the boo birds and protesters. We’d do anything to keep grinding, play one more game or feed one more calf. It’s what made the sweat, the grit and the grind all worth it.
To watch Mark Inkrott’s full interview on the Unscripted Podcast, click here.
