Virtual Farms Tours give World Dairy Expo attendees the opportunity to experience a wide variety of farms, topics and management styles, all from the comfort of a chair. This year’s operations excel in areas of water conservation, genetics, robotics and more. The tours are led by dairy owners and managers, with a half-hour pictorial overview of their operation, general information and highlights of exceptional management practices. After each session there is time for questions and discussion.
The tours are presented daily, Tuesday, Sept. 30 through Saturday, Oct. 4 in the Mendota 1 meeting room in the Exhibition Hall. The presentations will also be posted on World Dairy Expo’s website after the show. Sponsors of the 2014 Virtual Farm Tours are AgStar Financial Services, American Jersey Cattle Association, DuPont Pioneer, Kansas Department of Agriculture, Lely, Livestock Water Recycling Inc., Quality Liquid Feeds Inc. and Zoetis. Following is a short description of each tour:
Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2 p.m.
Hosted by: Milk Source – Hudson Dairy, Hudson, Mich.
3,000 Milking/Water Conservation
Sponsored by: Livestock Water Recycling, Inc.
Cow care and water conservation are top priorities for Hudson Dairy. Launched in June, this is the fifth large-scale dairy built by the Milk Source partnership of Jim Ostrom, John Vosters and Todd Willer. The partnership also owns Milk Source Genetics, a nucleus herd of elite Holstein and Red & White cattle; Heifer Source, a 20,000-head heifer raising facility and Calf Source, a 10,000-head calf facility. Hudson Dairy has 3,000 milking cows with a rolling herd average of 24,000 lb. The new facility has a manure processing center that extracts nutrients and solids for use as fertilizer, with the end product being clean, potable water. All Milk Source dairies are part of the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) program, which emphasizes animal care. Milk Source was named the 2014 Innovative Dairy Farmers of the Year by the International Dairy Foods Association and Dairy Today.
Wednesday, Oct. 1, Noon
Hosted by: Rokeyroad Holsteins, Sabetha, Kan.
114 Milking/Genetic Advancement
Sponsored by: Kansas Department of Agriculture
Dwight and Anita Rokey will tell you they are living their dream. Rokeyroad Holsteins is home to 114 registered Holsteins with plans to expand. Originally crop and hog farmers, the Rokeys have bought into several well-known cow families including Raven, Dellia, Caramac, Bellwood Linda, Roxy, Elegance and more. They bred the 2013 All-American Red & White Milking Yearling and have several bulls in stud including Rokeyroad Rokstar-PP-Red, a red homozygous polled bull. Rokeyroad has a rolling herd average of 28,200 lb. of milk with 4.0% fat and 3.2% protein. Currently, the herd is housed in the only tie stall barn in Kansas. This facility is equipped with an evaporative cooling system and tunnel ventilation, which can cool the barn by more than 20°F. The Rokeys will be constructing Kansas’ first bedded-pack dairy barn, with sawdust sourced from a local cabinet supplier.
Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2 p.m.
Hosted by: Sugar Creek Farms, New London, Wis.;
1,200 Milking/Adopters of Technology
Sponsored by: Zoetis
What started as an FFA friendship has developed into a productive operation. Mike Bruette and Jeff Handschke were members of the same FFA chapter in high school. Since 1997, they have been farming in partnership and expanded in 2001 and again in 2008. They’re currently milking 1,200 cows with a rolling herd average of 29,500 lb. of milk. Sugar Creek Farms believes in implementing the latest technologies and having strict protocols to ensure the health and safety of animals and employees. The herd is outfitted with RFID tags that are tied to the herd management software that helps to track herd health, vaccination programs and reproductive status. Overall, the monitors have made it easier to ensure that all established protocols are being following.
Sugar Creek Farms has been genomic testing all of their females for the past two years. They use this information to maximize their use of sexed semen and to facilitate culling decisions. By working closely with employees and the management team, including their veterinarian, they ensure their animals stay healthy, happy and productive. Sugar Creek Farms also opens their doors to host a variety of events each year. They hosted the 2012 Farm Technology Days and were a host farm for the 2014 Midwest Regional Dairy Challenge.
