Joseph Goni, a fourth-generation dairy farmer from Tulare County, California, still gets emotional recounting how historic flooding forced his family to herd their cows into trailers in the middle of the night.  

“It can be hard to talk about because at the time, I felt like we were watching our more than century-old legacy wash away right in front of our eyes,” Joseph said.  

Joseph owns and operates Lerda-Goni Farms, which has been in his family since 1922. He says when the flooding began in Tulare County in March 2023 following a series of storms, his family jumped into action, spending countless hours a day diverting water away from the house. But nothing could’ve prepared them for the unprecedented flooding on the night of March 15. 

“It was around midnight when my sister called to wake us up and frantically told us to look outside. At that point, about 3.5 feet of water was rushing into our yard, and that’s when we knew we had to do everything we could to get all our animals to safety,” Joseph said.  

For the next few days, Joseph’s family worked around the clock with the help of their long-time employees and neighbors to haul their nearly 3,000 cows and heifers to four nearby dairies located on safer ground.  

Joseph’s story is one of the impact stories we’re sharing along with our ‘Farmcore’ campaign. The #farmcore hashtag, a lifestyle aesthetic and fashion movement inspired by rural farm life, has been used nearly 250,000 times across Instagram and TikTok. But as a farmer-owned cooperative, we know it’s more than just a look or aesthetic. It’s a way of life that is grounded in the everyday work of our 1,000+ farmer-owners. Joseph and his family are proof of that.  

To share this message, Land O’Lakes recently hosted a Farmcore-to-Table runway show in the fields of Paris, Wisconsin, in a nod to Paris Fashion Week. The models wore clothes donated by several farmer-owners. Each item of clothing included a special patch with the farmer’s impact story stitched into the pieces. Their impact stories were also shared over speakers as the models walked down the runway.  

Joseph donated a pair of work boots he wore during flood recovery efforts. He joked the boots have “been through some s***,” and serve as a reminder of the overwhelming support he received from community members during that hard time. Some of those volunteers included fellow Land O’Lakes dairy farmer-owners. 

“I’ve never been prouder of being a Land O’Lakes member. During the flooding, the Fernandes and Mancebo family did not hesitate to help me haul the cows. When I started to become overwhelmed, giving up became an option. But my family, friends and community members were there to keep me going through their actions and words. I’ll never forget when one of the Fernandes brothers encouraged me by saying, ‘You can’t quit, man! You’ve got this! This will only last a few weeks; things will be okay.’ Those words of encouragement were exactly what I needed to hear to keep fighting and now I know if my family can get through that, we can overcome anything as long as we work together,” Joseph said.  

Joseph also donated a pair of coveralls, passed down to him by his late father, which were featured in the runway show.  

“My dad wore the coveralls every day up until the day he passed in 2022, so they are iconic in my family. I am where I am because of his hard work and I wanted to pay homage to him,” Joseph said.

Looking toward the future, Joseph hopes to build on his family’s legacy by getting a methane digester system up and running on their farm soon. The project was put on hold during flood recovery. His farm also has plans of updating older parts of the operation including the cattle corral and irrigation lines.  

“We feel passionate about being proactive when it comes to climate change. If we want to keep dairying for 50 more years, we want to implement systems that will help us do it more sustainably and efficiently,” Joseph said.  

Like Joseph, our 1,000+ farmer-owners each have their own powerful story to tell. See more from our Farmcore campaign, where we helped bring their stories to life and showcased how the hard work and commitment of a farmer can be seen in the wear and tear of the clothing they wear, not to mention the delicious dairy products they help produce.