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DAIRY ST R
Volume 23, No. 20
December 11, 2021
“All dairy, all the time”™
Improving everyone’s quality of life Boons celebrate one year of robotic milking By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Kris�ne and Brad Boon and their children – (from le�) Baylee, Natalie and Fletcher – milk 355 cows with six Lely A5 robo�c milkers on their dairy near Greenwood, Wisconsin. The Boons have used robo�c milkers for one year.
GREENWOOD, Wis. – Over seven years of careful consideration and planning, along with touring over 40 dairy farms throughout the Upper Midwest, laid the groundwork for a robotic milking system at Boon Farms in Greenwood. Shortly after purchasing the farm from his father Duane, Brad Boon came to a crossroads in decision making. The farm’s current parlor needed substantial upgrades. After his years of research and planning, Boon felt he was ready to take the plunge and build a new freestall barn for a robotic milking system. “We were milking in a slow, outdated parlor,” Boon said. “It took ve to six hours to get them all through. We were milking three times a day, so it was almost 24 hours a day.” Just over a year after the start up, Boon prefers not to remember
life before the robots. “I wouldn’t want to do it any other way,” Boon said. “We are just loving it.” The Boons milk 355 cows with six Lely A5 robots, which were started up on Oct. 26, 2020. There are 100 head milked twice a day in the farm’s old parlor. The two herds operate independently, including dry cow facilities. “I am blessed with great employees, long-time employees who know cows really well,” Boon said. “Some have been with us for nearly 20 years. We kept a group of cows milking in the parlor so that I wouldn’t need to let anyone go after things got settled in with the robots. That has been part of our success; our employees have been really good to us.” Boon plans to eventually incorporate the two herds together as his work force shrinks through natural attrition. “This barn is built with an offset peak and is designed for easy expansion to add more cows,” Boon said. “So we will be able to add on and add a couple of more robots to bring the parlor
Turn to BOON | Page 6
Plan and pivot Pfaff opts out of building new, purchases neighboring farm By Abby Wiedmeyer abby.w@dairystar.com
ALMA CENTER, Wis. – Casey Pfaff changes his plans to keep up with the ever-changing dairy industry. “We were thinking of building a freestall barn in the last four or ve years, but actually we bought this second farm for less than what that freestall was going to cost,” Pfaff said. Pfaff, a 2012 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, milks 180 cows with his parents, Steven and Kristen, near Alma Center. In February 2020, the family expanded the dairy business with the purchase of a second farm. The Pfaffs had been trying to nd the right time to build a freestall barn for many years but decided to change that plan when a neighboring farm came up for sale. They now
milk in two barns. “We had been switching the whole barn out at home for the last 10 years,” Pfaff said. “There were 160 cows over there.” Pfaff and his father manage the two barns with the help of two employees. Everyone begins the day at the home farm, where they milk 82 cows in a tiestall barn. Once the cows are in and the milkers are on, one employee stays to milk while the other goes to the new barn and milks. Another 98 cows milked in a tiestall barn at the new farm. Most of the 2-year-old cows are housed in the new barn, where the stalls are smaller. The bigger cows are at the home farm, all housed in the tie stalls. When the family was switching cows, the switch cows were held in a bedded pack. Keeping the younger cows at the new farm now helps manage the ration since the two barns are fed differently. “The dry matter intake is a lot lower (at the new facility) because the cows are smaller, and we have 15 Jerseys here,”
Turn to PFAFF | Page 7
ABBY WIEDMEYER/DAIRY STAR
Casey Pfaff milks 180 cows with his parents, Steven and Kristen, on two separate farms near Alma Center, Wisconsin.