The Value of Working with Family

I was high up in the tractor, watching endless rows of grass fall into neat lines under the hot summer sun. With the AC on and the radio playing, I just enjoyed how comfortable a tractor can be. That day on Didier’s farm wasn’t only about hay — it was also about connecting with the adults in my family, and getting a glimpse of their everyday work. Since I live in San Francisco and only see my relatives in Switzerland once a year, these moments are special. This summer, I joined two of my mom’s cousins.

Didier’s Dairy Farm

I spent two days with Didier, who runs a large dairy farm in Ballens, a small village at the foot of the Jura mountains between Lausanne and Geneva.

On my way to the farm, with Mont Blanc in the distance.

ferme roch ballens — Didier runs the farm that once belonged to my great-grandfather. Back then, there were just seven cows. Today there are more than a hundred.

The milk from his farm goes toward making Gruyère cheese, but unlike on a small farm, he doesn’t transform it himself. On Didier’s big farm, the focus is on producing large quantities of milk, while the transformation into cheese happens in a local fromagerie, where you can actually see how Gruyère is made.

I tried to use the milking machine (without much success — I think I’ll need to build some muscle first!). The system is called a carrousel: cows step onto a large rotating platform, get attached to the milking equipment, and by the time they’ve gone all the way around, they’re done and can step off while new cows take their place.

carousel de traite ballens — Didier in front of the milking carrousel. Thank you to lacote.ch for the picture.

There were many calves on the farm; one was even born the day I was there, but I missed the birth by just a few minutes. He was fed with a bottle of special milk taken from cows that had just calved. The calves aren’t fed by their mothers, since the farmers don’t want the babies to form an attachment. That part wasn’t my favorite — it felt a little sad — but at least I got to help feed them.

calves drinking milk — Calves at the milk bar

The Cheese Tax Challenge

While I was there, Switzerland learned that the United States was going to place a 39% tax on imported Swiss products, including cheese. Didier told me how serious this is:

The U.S. is the number one country where Switzerland exports cheese. With such a high tax, Swiss cheese will be much more expensive there, and fewer people will buy it.

For farmers like Didier, who already work very hard with small profit margins, it makes their job even harder — and it even puts at risk one of Switzerland’s most famous traditions.

I also was told that 39% is one of the highest tariffs in the world. By comparison, the European Union faces around 15% and the U.K. about 10%. Hearing that really made me understand why people like Didier are very worried.

👉 Read more in this CNBC article

My Realization: Small vs. Big Farms

How different farming can be: a small farm and a big farm are almost two different worlds. When my sister Zélia was on a farm, she got to milk the animals, make cheese, and sell it all in the same week. Here on a big farm, there’s less variety in the activities. Both ways are interesting, though on a small farm you also get to make and sell — and those are the fun parts!

Adeline’s Frame Workshop

Adeline welcomed me into her workshop in Lausanne, where she makes frames for people’s artwork. That day, I got to work on two frames I had picked out. I especially enjoyed trying out all the different tools that were new to me.

paper cutting machine — The big cutter needs just the right amount of strength for a clean, precise cut.

cutting glass — This little tool scores a line, and with a small tap the glass breaks perfectly.

Using a Japanese pull saw to make a small cut in the paperboard — that’s how we fixed the D-ring hanger.

With a point driver, I inserted framing points — the small metal tabs that keep the artwork secure inside the frame.

Proud of my black frame, glad for that time with Adeline — Proud of my black frame, and happy to find out Adeline likes telling jokes just like me.

Adeline enjoys framing artwork, and took over the workshop from her mother, but I’ve heard her say it doesn’t pay very well. That’s why she also keeps her other job as an art teacher at a school. I realize you might love some jobs that unfortunately don’t pay well. And when the pay isn’t enough, it can become stressful and hard to keep enjoying the work. That’s something I’ll keep in mind when I think about jobs for the future.