Farm tours

Vir-Clar Farms:  A Look Back at the Last Five Years Five years ago, Katie (Boyke) Grinstead jumped headfirst into her lifelong dream.  She returned to her family’s dairy to build the calf operation and raise her kids on the farm. Building success Vir-Clar Farms, LLC is owned and operated by Gary and Rose Boyke.  Their

MDS Dairy Focuses on Improvement Through Technology and Teamwork MDS Dairy in western Wisconsin isn’t your average dairy business.  Phil Mlsna owns the farm, which includes two dairies, located in Sparta and Westby, and a total of 2,250 animals. He is also the owner of Mlsna Dairy Supply, Inc., which provides milking equipment, calf feeders,

In this edition of Starting Strong A Day in the Life of a Calf Raiser, Cathy Speirs of Shiloh Dairy LLC shares what she and her team do to manage summertime heat and continue to provide calves with optimum care.

Kellercrest Registered Holsteins Place Intense Focus on Genetics and Animal Care Family is truly the central theme at Kellercrest Registered Holsteins in Mt. Horeb, Wis. The 320-cow dairy is a partnership between brothers Tim and Mark Keller and their wives, Sandy and Kareen. Tim and Sandy's teenage kids, Andrew and Kimberly, also own a few

We are excited to introduce a new segment to Starting Strong. A Day in the Life of a Calf Raiser will follow one of your peers as she provides practical tips and management strategies that she uses to raise healthy calves on her operation. In this segment, meet Cathy Speirs of Shiloh Dairy LLC in

The People Make the Difference at Hall’s Calf Ranch 1997 marked the beginning of J. Hall’s career as a custom calf raiser. He started with 15 rented hutches and a superhutch, raising calves for one nearby dairy. Within six months, he grew to 100 calves from three customers and built his first barn. That growth

Continual Improvement Top Theme at Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy When you visit Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy in Kewaunee, Wis., one of the first things you’ll probably notice is the pride all employees take in their jobs and their farm – and for good reason. The farm was founded in 1946 by current owner John Pagel’s father. Today,

Great Genetics, Great Care, Great Calves A strong focus on calves goes hand-in-hand with a strong focus on genetics. That’s the story at Bomaz Farms in Hammond, Wis. Brothers Bob and Greg Zwald own and operate Bomaz Farms with their wives, Kay and Irma. Bob and Greg’s father started the home farm in 1953 and

At City Slickers Farm in Cross Plains, Wis., calf care is of the utmost importance. That’s because owners Mike and Linda Hellenbrand have “zero tolerance” for losing even one calf. Mike and Linda purchased City Slickers Farm in 1995 as an investment and moved from New York City in 2001 to begin farming fulltime. As

Cow Comfort and Attention to Details Make All the Difference In Raising Healthy Calves For the Meissner family at Norm-E-Lane Farms in Chili, Wis., cow comfort reigns supreme.  That fact is evident with a quick walk through the operation’s recently built transition facility. Josh Meissner owns and operates Norm-E-Lane Farms with his dad, uncle and

Farm Calf Source: Raising Calves Is What We Do Imagine 55 rows of calf hutches with 60 hutches in each row. If you’re standing on a hilltop overlooking Calf Source in DePere, Wis., that’s exactly what you’ll see. This dairy calf ranch is home to 8,000 calves under 180 days of age. They arrive from

Installing an Automatic Milk Replacer Feeder In February of 2009, Lisa and Steve Groetsch were the first in the United States to install a Lely automatic combi feeder to feed their calves. Now they say there’s no way they’ll ever turn back. Groetsch Dairy in Albany, Minn. is a family farm. The Groetsches milk 180

Aiming for Excellence in Calf Raising At MCAA Land & Cattle Co. in Winamac, Ind., perfection is the goal and hard work is the name of the game.  The farm is owned and operated by Maurice Loehmer with the help of his son, Adam.  Connie, Maurice’s wife, and Ashley, Adam’s wife, also provide support for

Badger Holsteins Care for Calf Raising Badger Holsteins in Unity, Wis. has been a family-owned farm from the beginning.  Started in a stanchion barn, Larry Meyer, along with his sons, Jeff, Joe and Terry, recently expanded the farm to 1,200 cows.  The cows are housed in a new cross-ventilated freestall barn and are milked in