On June 5-6, Indiana Dairy Producers took a bus full of IDP members to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Click here to view pictures of the tour.
Our first stop was to Stewart-Peterson's headquarters in West Bend, Wisconsin. What a terrific welcome we received! Scott Stewart and Randy Niemann were there with many of their Market 360 dairy team. Matt presented information on dairy trends, and they answered our questions and fed us a delicious lunch.
Our next stop was to Soaring Eagle Dairy in Newton, Wisconsin. We heard how Jim Fitzgerald turned a 60-cow tie stall barn into an 1100-cow facility, managed by Jim and his 3 daughters, Kelly, Julie and Stacy. After that, we went to John Pagel's Ponderosa Dairy in Kewaunee, WI. This large-scale operation started with a handful of cows and John's father, and now they milk around 5000 cows with a carousel rotary parlor.
An evening banquet was enjoyed by all, and we were inspired by Dr. Lance Fox's experience climbing Mount Everest. The next morning, we visited American Foods beef slaughter plant (see article below), followed by tours of Calf Source's 9000 head calf-raising facility. This was probably the largest calf raising facility any of us had ever seen, and the calves were incredibly healthy and well-cared for. Manuel and Miguel gave us a terrific tour and answered our questions.
 Every year during June, Milk Promotion Services of Indiana features June Dairy Month activities, and 2013 is no exception. This year, they have launched a special website, 30 Dairies in 30 Days, featuring a different dairy farm family every single day throughout the month of June. Please click here to learn about each farm. An interactive map pinpoints the 30 featured farms located throughout the state. A click of the mouse takes visitors to each and every farm, where the families’ stories and photos are shared. Additional features include favorite recipes, upcoming events, quotes about the farming life, a plethora of fun and surprising dairy facts, and much more. Many IDP members are featured in this great group of dairy farms! Keep up the great work as we all celebrate June Dairy Month!
The 30 featured Indiana dairy farms include:
Wagler Farms, Morgantown Obert Legacy Dairy, Fort Branch Troxel Dairy Farm, Hanna Crystal Valley Dairy Farms, Middlebury Kuehnert Dairy Farm, Fort Wayne Rauscher Farms, Huntingburg Kelsay Farms, Whiteland Seven Hills Dairy, Goodland Weaver Dairy Farm, Bennington Stockwell Farms, Hudson Schwoeppe Dairy Farm, Huntingburg Phares Dairy, Albion Foerg & Forgey River-View Farm, Logansport Homestead Dairy, Plymouth Dague Dairy Farms, Kewana J&A Dairy, Evansville Hoeing Livestock Farms, Rushville Jones Robotic Dairy, Star City Brand Farms, Waterloo Mills Dairy Farm, Ossian All Wright Farms, Muncie Crosby Dairy Farm, Greensburg Oneeda Farms, Syracuse Mayhill Holsteins, Fountain City Knollbrook Farm, Goshen Kleine Dairy Farm, Cedar Lake Purdue University Dairy Farm, West Lafayette Huber Dairy Farm, Saint Paul Carterly Farms, Thorntown Hesters Dairy Farm, Walkerton
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