The Great Christmas “GRAND” PRIZE
GIVEAWAY
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DAIRY ST R
November 27, 2021
“All dairy, all the time”™
Volume 23, No. 19
A place to farm Flannery perseveres through wild journey to keep milking cows By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
HOLLANDALE, Wis. – After four chaotic moves in ve years, Casey Flannery has nally settled. “It’s been a challenge,” Flannery said. “There’s days I really question it, but I’m just glad to be doing what I’m doing.” Flannery milks 76 cows on a 310-acre farm he and his wife, Kary, purchased in November 2019 near Hollandale. The couple and their children, 6-yearold twins, Jannick and Jase, and Gracie Jo, 3, began milking at the site Jan. 2, 2020. Cows are milked twice a day in a 63-stall barn. Flannery feeds
half of his total mixed ration in the barn and the other half in bunks outside. Reaching this point in Flannery’s dairy farming career was not easy. He grew up on his family’s dairy farm near Argyle, the same place where Flannery’s own journey in the industry began after his parents sold the cows in 2014. In January 2015, Flannery gutted his dad’s barn, cleaning it out one wheelbarrow at a time, to accommodate a 45-cow herd. At the same time, Flannery was preparing to buy a farm nearby for additional land and housing. “It was going to work out great. We would be on a contract for feed and eventually buy the rest of the land,” Flannery said.
Unfortunately, that deal fell through, leaving Flannery in a scramble to nd another farm. His dad had already rented out the crop land in anticipation of Flannery purchasing the other farm. In desperation, Flannery would nish chores, hop in the truck and drive around looking for a place to go. “I stopped at random farms,” Flannery said. “I did not know these people. I went from down by Illinois all the way west and north of Dodgeville, just asking people if they would rent their barn out.” Eventually, he took his cows to a farm in Iowa where his friend was herdsman. Flannery rented a house for his family in Dodgeville. For a month, Flannery lived in Iowa near his cows in a camper with no water Turn to FLANNERY | Page 6
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Kary and Casey Flannery stand together on their farm near Hollandale, Wisconsin. They milk 76 cows in a newly renovated barn.
SchwiƩays’ barn doubles in size A focus on colored breeds, maternity area drives project By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
The SchwiƩays – (from leŌ) Jeremy, Monica and Jason – milk 380 cows near PeshƟgo, Wisconsin. They recently added on to their freestall barn to reduce overcrowding and create devoted space for their Ayrshire and Jersey breeds.
PESHTIGO, Wis. – When the Schwittays outgrew their barn to the point that cows outnumbered stalls more than 2-to-1, they knew it was time to expand. Adding 156 feet and 133 stalls to the building, the Schwittays doubled the size of their barn in the fall of 2020. Highlights include a dedicated maternity pen and a pen for the farm’s colored breeds of dairy cattle. Built with cow comfort in mind, the barn offers more space and exibility in caring for the diverse herd of Holsteins, Red and White Holsteins, Ayrshires and Jerseys. “The goal of the addition was twofold,” said Monica Schwittay. “We wanted to reduce overcrowding and do a better job with our colored breeds which make up 37% of the herd.” Schwittay Farms is owned and operated by brothers Jeremy and Jason Schwittay and Jeremy’s wife, Monica. The Schwittays milk 380 cows near Peshtigo and also run a custom heifer facility, farming 1,800 acres between the two operations.
“We have a very low cull rate, which is part of the reason we needed more space,” Monica said. “We focus on the cows – everything revolves around them. Our priorities lie in cow comfort, cow health and having quality feed in front of the cows 24/7. Consistency in everything we do is the key to success.” The addition affords more room all around. The pens in the barn now include dry, pre-fresh, post-fresh, breeding and pregnant for Holsteins and large Ayrshires, colored breed and maternity. Creating a separate pen for Ayrshire and Jersey cattle allows for more specialized care of each breed, including the ability to offer custom diets. Tailoring diets according to breed helps the Schwittays maximize production, feed efciencies and decrease overall feed costs. “Our Ayrshires and Jerseys always carried extra condition because the diet wasn’t right for them,” Monica said. “They would put on a lot of back fat instead of using the energy to produce milk in the tank. Now, they don’t put the excess weight, and their peaks are higher and their persistency is greater.” In the past, the Schwittays faced a challenge in feeding enough forage to these breeds. “Now their diet is up to 66% forage, and we focus on utilizing amino acid balancing to optimize milk production and compo-
Turn to SCHWITTAY | Page 7