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In the farming district surrounding the town of Marlstead, a three-generation shift in household structure has quietly reshaped how the region's dairy farms operate, according to a recently compiled agricultural census. Fifty years ago, the typical Marlstead dairy farm was run by an extended family unit spanning three generations under one roof, with grandparents handling calf-rearing and light maintenance while parents managed milking schedules and finances, and children contributing labour as they grew old enough. That structure has largely dissolved: the current census finds that only eight percent of Marlstead's dairy farms now house more than two generations at once, down from an estimated sixty percent in the 1970s. The most commonly cited reason, in interviews conducted alongside the census, was not economic hardship but a generational shift in expectations, with many grandchildren of farming families choosing to live independently in nearby towns even when they still work the family land part-time. This has created a labour gap that farms have filled in varied ways. Roughly a third now rely on hired seasonal workers, a third have mechanised previously manual tasks such as feeding and basic health monitoring, and the remaining third have simply reduced herd sizes to match the labour available within the immediate household. Interestingly, farms that reduced herd size rather than hiring or mechanising reported the highest owner satisfaction scores in follow-up surveys, despite generating lower revenue on average, with owners citing reduced stress and more predictable working hours as compensating factors. Agricultural economists reviewing the census caution against generalising this finding to other regions, noting that Marlstead's proximity to towns offering stable non-farm employment gives its younger generation an exit option that is not available in more isolated farming communities, where multi-generational households may persist out of necessity rather than choice.