COWS, HORSES AND FORKLIFTS

Iris Ordonez, 25, is an assistant manager at Fair Oaks Farms in Fair Oaks, Ind.

Q. What is your background for working on a farm?

A. I was born into it. My family is from New Mexico, where my father was the foreman on a dairy farm. One of my early memories is bottle-feeding the calves at 5 or 6. They were as big as I was, and I could hardly hold the bottle. My older sister Imelda showed me how to stick my finger in their mouth so that they would start suckling and I could switch to the bottle.

When did you move to Indiana?

When I was about 7. The owner of Fair Oaks Farms once owned the New Mexico farm, and a lot of employees from the first farm followed us when we came here, so we’re with people we’ve known for years. My three siblings also work on the farm with me, and I get to spend time with my nieces and nephews.

What are your responsibilities as assistant manager?

I help my dad manage the work that has to be done, including giving employees their work assignments. I also manage the feeders and manure scrapers and do some clerical work.

What else do you do?

I can drive all our vehicles, including a tractor, forklift and front-end loader. We’re one of the Fairlife co-op farms, and occasionally I drive a semi truck and deliver feed to our other dairy sites. I vaccinate our cows and birth them, although a breeder or herdsman is with me during the births in case I need assistance. I also inseminate our cows.

Have you tried other jobs?

I worked in retail at a mall for a while because I thought I might like selling.

What might surprise visitors to your farm?

How much farming has changed over the years. There’s still a bit of a stereotype of farmers in overalls doing many jobs by hand, but it’s not like that. Even the way we milk cows has changed. We have what’s called a milking parlor, where they’re milked in a circle by machine, and we’re also using crops for fuel now.

How do you relax?

I ride horses three or four times a week in the afternoons. We have over 20 on the farm. That, to me, is fun. BY PATRICIA R OLSEN