Stephanie Finn loves her life on the farm.

She’s the farm’s herdsman, helping raise their cows at Finndale Farms in Holland Patent.

Finndale Farms’ cows are milked three times a day, and it’s a schedule that can’t be interrupted.

“It’s basically like relieving pressure, and if you have inconsistent milking schedules or improper procedures, they’re prone to get Mastitis, which is basically an infection in the udder, and it’s really painful, and something we hope to avoid at all costs,” Finn said.

Last year, the farm was one of many forced to dump milk because with schools and restaurants closing, among other factors, the demand just wasn’t there.

Finn said they couldn’t sell their raw milk because a license is needed to do so, and even then, it’s difficult due to regulations and liability concerns.

“It was disheartening because we knew there were people who needed it,” said Finn.

Finn said the cost was absorbed by their co-op. Now things are a little better as they are not dumping milk, but there are other issues.

“Anytime that you order supplies, it takes twice as long to get here," Finn said. "Things that you wouldn’t even expect, like our milkers wear gloves in the parlor, and gloves are such a high demand during the pandemic, we can’t actually find gloves.”

Finndale Farms was founded in 1964 in Oneida County. It’s still owned and operated by the Finn family.