Audio Recording Brenda Finney and Daniel Finney interview conducted by Hannah Harvester, 2013-04-05.

Title

• Brenda Finney and Daniel Finney interview conducted by Hannah Harvester, 2013-04-05.

Summary

• Dan Finney runs a medium-sized farm with his family in Adams, New York. He has been farming all his life and learned by doing. In this interview, he and his wife Brenda discuss changes in the nature of farm work, raising 6 children on the farm, the yearly farm schedule, division of labor, their experiences with Hispanic workers, the relationship of their Mennonite faith to farming, their approach to gradual growth, the many skills Dan uses on the farm, public perception of farmers, and the major challenges and joys of farming. Dan's partner in the farm is his brother, who was not interviewed. Their father purchased the farm in 1970, having moved north from lower NY state. Dan and his brother formally entered the farm partnership in 1988, when Dan was 20. His father gradually reduced his farm work and is now retired. The Finneys have about 400 Holstein cows--200 milkers and 200 young stock. When he was growing up, the farm had about 120 milking cows and it has gradually increased in size. They crop about 600 acres of corn and alfalfa. Cows are housed in a free stall barn and don't go out to pasture. They milk twice daily; the two workers do the milking. The Finneys' 6 children (4 girls and 2 boys) do farm chores in the mornings and afternoons and are mainly responsible for the calves. Brenda does farm chores (mostly feeding) and works about 3 hours a day on the farm. She also takes care of the farm's bookkeeping. The Finneys sell their milk to a private handler. They feel milk co-ops do not have the farmer's best interest in mind. At the time of the interview, Dan employed two workers who lived on the farm, and one local young man, who was also a Mennonite. Dan and Brenda's children attend a local Mennonite school. His elder daughters have finished school and will not continue on to college; they live at home and work jobs in the community as well as working on the farm.

Names

• Finney, Dan, 1968- interviewee.
• Finney, Brenda, interviewee.
• Harvester, Hannah, 1983- interviewer.
• Cooper, Martha, photographer.
• Occupational Folklife Project, sponsor.

Created / Published

• 2013-04-05

Headings

• -  Finney, Dan,--1968---Interviews
• -  Finney, Brenda--Interviews
• -  Dairy farmers--New York (State)--North Country--Interviews
• -  Dairy farming--New York (State)--North Country
• -  Dairy farms--New York (State)--North Country
• -  Children
• -  Technology
• -  Work and family
• -  Work environment
• -  Work ethic
• -  Work-life balance
• -  Education
• -  Families
• -  Job satisfaction
• -  Migrant labor
• -  Non-formal education
• -  Religious life
• -  Self-employed
• -  Adams (N.Y.),--event place

Genre

• Sound recordings
• Digital photographs--Color--2010-2020
• Interviews
• Oral histories
• Personal narratives

Notes

• -  Interview recorded in 2 sections: a main section and an addendum. Interview begins with Dan Finney, his wife Brenda joins the conversation later.
• -  Recorded at Dan and Brenda Finney's home , Adams, New York, April 5, 2013.
• -  Dairy Farm Workers in New York's North Country : Archie Green Fellows Project, 2012-2013 (AFC 2012/033: 00502) Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
• -  To honor the memory of Archie Green (1917-2009), a fellowship program was established at the American Folklife Center in 2010. Archie Green Fellowships support new research in the contemporary culture and traditions of American workers.
• -  In English.

Medium

• 2 sound files (wav) (1:01:19) : digital, sound.
• 21 photographs : digital, tif, color.
• 1 manuscript : docx, jpg, text file.

Source Collection

• Dairy Farm Workers in New York's North Country : Archie Green Fellows Project, 2012-2013 AFC 2012/033: 00502

Repository

• Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, DC USA 20540-4610 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.home

Digital Id

• http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/afc2012033.afc2012033_00502_sr01
• http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/afc2012033.afc2012033_00502_sr02
• afc2012033.afc2012033_00502_ph
• afc2012033.afc2012033_00502_ms01

Library of Congress Control Number

• 2020655445

Rights Advisory

• Duplication of collection materials may be governed by copyright and other restrictions.

Access Advisory

• Collection is open for research. To request materials, please contact the Folklife Reading Room at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.afc/folklife.contact

Online Format

• image
• audio
• pdf

LCCN Permalink

• https://lccn.loc.gov/2020655445

Additional Metadata Formats

• MARCXML Record
• MODS Record
• Dublin Core Record

IIIF Presentation Manifest

• Manifest (JSON/LD)