Working together and striving for individual excellence aren’t mutually exclusive at Redrock View Farms. The Carpenter family aims to do both to carry the Darlington-area dairy farm into the future.
The family farm was established in 1978 by Jerry and Marilyn Carpenter. Their son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Lisa Carpenter, purchased the farm in 1995. Now the third generation of Carpenters is poised to take the farm into the future. Steve Carpenter remains actively involved in the farming operation, but is working on a transition plan.
“We plan to have something in place that will be fair to everyone,” he said.
Steve and Lisa Carpenters’ two eldest sons – Cody, 30, and Colton, 28 – are actively involved in the farming operation. The couple’s third son – Carson, 24 – has an off-farm job repairing and selling equipment. But he often helps with fieldwork and equipment repairs on the family farm. Steve and Lisa Carpenters’ daughter – Cora, 20 – is in her junior year studying agricultural communications at Iowa State University.
Steve Carpenter has been interviewing attorneys to help prepare the business-transition plan. But he hasn’t found the right one yet, he said. Careful consideration is one of his traits, said Brian Reilly, who has worked with Carpenter for more than 20 years.
“Steve has a calm demeanor, and listens to all the pros and cons before making a decision,” said Reilly, a dairy nutritionist for Premier Cooperative of Mineral Point, Wisconsin.
That careful deliberation has served Redrock View Farms well, Reilly said. The 600-cow herd averages 100 pounds of milk per cow per day with a somatic-cell count of less than 100,000. The farm’s rolling herd average is 30,000 pounds.
On the crop side the Carpenters average between 180 and 200 bushels of corn per acre, depending on the field. Their corn-silage yields average 25 to 30 tons per acre. And they produce about 7 tons of dry matter per acre for haylage.
Reilly attributes the farm’s performance in part to Carpenter’s management style.
“He’s an exceptional manager of people,” Reilly said. “While he monitors job performance he lets people do their job. He doesn’t micromanage.”
Managing people didn’t come naturally, Carpenter said. In addition to the family there are eight full-time employees at Redrock View Farms.
“One of my biggest challenges was going from managing cows to managing people,” he said. “The next challenge was learning how to manage family.”
One of the keys was to give them an opportunity to shine in their own areas of responsibility, he said. Cody Carpenter earned a degree in dairy science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked for Accelerated Genetics before returning to the farm. He has assumed responsibility for the cows. Colton Carpenter earned a degree in animal science from UW-Platteville and manages the farm’s heifers as well as the cropping operation.
Steve Carpenter manages the business as well as a custom-chopping business. Lisa Carpenter works off the farm as office manager for the UW-Division of Extension in Lafayette County.
The family farms about 1,500 acres of alfalfa and corn. Most of the crops they grow are fed to the cattle. Between the milk cows, heifers and dry cows, the Carpenters manage about 1,500 cattle.
Dr. B.J. Jones is a veterinarian at Center Hill Veterinary Clinic in Darlington. He has worked with Steve Carpenter for more than 20 years and has observed how the family business has grown.
“The Carpenters are good communicators,” Jones said. “They let each other know what they want. And I’ve been impressed by how Cody communicates with employees. He’s in tune with them on both a business and personal level.”
Cody Carpenter has learned to speak Spanish. And employees are treated like family, Steve Carpenter said. That has helped the farm retain employees. One employee has worked at the farm for about 15 years. The last “new” employee was hired three years ago.
Phil Monson is a dairy specialist at Agri-King. He became acquainted with Cody Carpenter when they were fraternity brothers in Alpha Gamma Rho at UW-Madison. Monson provides forage-treatment recommendations to the Carpenters. He attributes the farm’s strength in part to Steve Carpenter’s openness to incorporating new technologies that his sons suggest. Cow-activity sensors and total mixed rations are just a couple of examples.
“Steve makes the ultimate decisions, but lets his sons run their areas,” Monson said. “And I’m impressed by how the brothers work together without stepping on each other’s toes.”
To weather the dairy industry’s poor economic climate the family has worked together to manage expenses by chopping and feeding more of their own forages. They do more of their own equipment repairs. And they belong to Decatur Swiss Cheese Co-op of Brodhead, Wisconsin. Steve Carpenter has served for 10 years as president of the cooperative’s board. The 70 farmer-members work in partnership with Steve Stettler, cheesemaker at Decatur Dairy.
“All of Decatur Dairy’s cheese is sold before it’s even made,” Carpenter said.
Stettler markets the cheese in addition to making it. Since Carpenter has served on the cooperative’s board the business has aggressively built equity, Stettler said.
“The cooperative owns the facility and the land, and oversees the milk-quality program,” he said. “I own the manufacturing business and the dairy license. We’ve had two expansions and are producing at full capacity.”
The business decisions are helping to ease some economic concerns. They also can help make business more sustainable for the next generation of farmers at Redrock View Farms … and beyond.
Visit www.facebook.com/redrockviewfarms and decaturdairy.com for more information.
Source: kenoshanews.com
