Tour Opportunities Include:
- Harmony Specialty Dairy Foods LLC (Edgar, WI): Owwned and operated by fourth generation dairy producers operating Harmony-Ho Holsteins - 450 cow registered dairy. Purchased the closed ‘Cloverbelt” plant in 2007 and make handmade vat cheese. Ralph Bredl is very interesting to hear talk about the do’s and don’ts and the how’s and why’s of an undertaking of this magnitude. www.harmonyspecialty.com
- Dugan Valley Dairy (Mondovi, WI): New 260 freestall guided flow robot facility. Owners also milk on a 140 freestall and 80 freestall/grazing operation. Five DeLaval VMS Robotic Milkers using a guided flow system. Four robots in the lactating pens and one for fresh cows. Barn has translucent siding, half slatted and half bedded pack for the fresh cows, tunnel ventilated/ cross ventilated with automatic curtains.
- Ron and Ester Van Langen (Edgar, WI): Milking 130 cows with 2 Lely A3 robots and has SCC less than 100,000. Moved from the Netherlands in July of 2008. In 2009, moved from a tie-stall into a new 5-row natural ventilated freestall barn with alley scrapers, a juno automatic feed pusher and enclosed insulated ceiling. All grain fed through a grain feeding station in the barn. Has graze gate for cows to go to pasture in the summer. Fresh cow bedded pack pen has access to robots.
- Holsum Dairy (Hilbert, WI): Cross-ventilated calf barn from post weaning to 6 months, then sent to calf raiser. Milking 3,700 cows in 80-stall External Rotary and averaging over 80 pounds per cow per day. Digester generating enough electricity for 1,200 homes. Uses separated solids for bedding and sells some to neighboring dairies to use as bedding. Has established protocols and procedures for nearly every task on the farm.
- Country Aire (Greenleaf, WI): Two brothers in partnership milking 2,000 cows with a 40-stall internal rotary parlor. Uses 2 sand lanes, one every other day. 50% of manure is drag lines and 50% is hauled in trucks. Converted from mats to sand decreasing their cull rate by 6%. Excellent management with a mid 20% pregnancy rate, SCC around 100,000, and cows consistently averaging over 95 pounds per cow per day.
- Landl Farm (Kaukauna, WI): Transitioned from an 80-cow tie-stall barn to a low cost swing parlor. Milks 315 cows three times a day and custom raises 1,000 heifers from 4 months to springing. Uses sand-bedding in a 3-row mono-sloped barn with outside feed alley and drovers lane. Gravity flow manure to a two-stage lagoon. Has low feed costs with 84 pounds production and has nearly 40% pregnancy rate.
- Rosendale Dairy (Pickett, WI): New dairy with two 16-row cross-ventilated freestall barns housing 8,000 cows. Milks with 2, side-by-side, 80-stall external rotary parlors. Has a robotic arm for post-dipping and averages 88 pounds per cow per day. Uses sand separators and has solids separators. www.rosendaledairy.net
Evening Tour and Networking Opportunities
On Wednesday, June 16th, participants will have the opportunity to select one of the following tour opportunities. After their tour, both groups will meet for dinner. Each tour has limited availability and will be awarded to participants on a first-come, first-serve basis so register early!
- Stone Cellar Brewpub: This handcrafted brewpub is located in a 146-year old building. Following the tour at Stone Cellar Brewpub, enjoy beer and/or root beer samples along with some hors d’oeuvres.
- Paper Baron Mansion Tour: A guided bus tour through Neenah’s fabulous Paper Baron Mansion Neighborhood where you’ll find out how the owners of the per mills made their fortunes and how they lives. Hear behind-the-scene stories of intrigue, romance, tragedy and comedy.
Register Today!
Click on the link below for a registration form or contact our office toll-free at 1-877-577-0741 or by e-mail at mmpa@mnmilk.org. Space is limited so register early. All registrations must be received by Tuesday, June 8th.
Thank You Sponsors
This tour is made possible by the support of Minnesota Milk’s dairy producer members and other associate members within the industry including:
Gold Sponsors: A&L Laboratories Inc., AgStar Financial Services, Davisco Foods/ LeSueur Cheese Company, Land O’Lakes, Inc., Minnesota Select Sires, and Nelson Dairy Consultants, Inc.
Silver Sponsors: American Agco Trading Company, Bongards Creameries, Central Minnesota Federal Credit Union, DeLaval, Inc., Elanco Animal Health, Lely, USA, Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, Modern Farm Equipment, Vi-Cor, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Bronze Sponsors: Accelerated Genetics, Advanced Comfort Technology, Inc., Ag-Venture Feed & Seed, Inc., Burnett Dairy Co-op, Byron Seeds, LLC, Family Dairies USA, First District Association, Genex Farm Systems, Hydro Engineering, Inc., MEDA / Chem-STAR, Melrose Ag Services, LLC, Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Munson Lakes Nutrition, Peoples State Bank, Stearns Vet Outlet, Udder Tech., Inc., United FCS, Vita Plus Corporation, Waconia Farm Supply, and Wieser Concrete.
