Page 14 • Dairy Star • Second Section • Saturday, March 10, 2018
DAIRYING ACROSS AMERICA
Nevada: Dairyman’s foolproof backdrop Christoph plans to expand acreage, cow numbers By Maria Bichler Staff Writer
FALLON, Nev. – Ted Christoph has plans for the future of his family’s dairy. “The dairy is strictly providing our living,” Christoph said. “Times are changing. We have to adapt and be different than we’ve been before.” The 28-year-old took ownership of Liberty Jersey Farm in 2017 and has his sights set on more acres and more cows. “For me, I want to be farming more acres,” Christoph said. “… I want to see us be able to expand and grow our cow
numbers.” Christoph is a fthgeneration dairyman. Christoph’s father, Bill, began milking cows on the current farmsite in 1988 near Fallon, Nev. Later that year, Bill married Val. Prior, Christoph’s ancestors operated dairy farms in Germany, Wisconsin, Arizona and nally Nevada. “I don’t know that you can nd a better balanced climate without a bunch of people that are already there,” Christoph said of the benet of dairying in Nevada. “Fallon is very balanced. We have pretty unique temperatures with low humidity. It’s not hard to keep cows comfortable (here).” PHOTO SUBMITTED
The Christoph family – (from leŌ) son Ted, daughter Lindsay, Val and Bill – milk 480 Jersey cows near Fallon, Nev.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
The cows at Liberty Jersey Farm are milked twice per day in a double-10 herringbone parlor.
The 480 Jersey cows are milked twice per day in a double-10 herringbone parlor and are housed in open lots with headlocks. The corrals have shades in the middle to fend off summer heat. Calves are housed in hutches. The herd has a rolling herd average of 21,000 pounds. Currently, the Jerseys are
producing 63 pounds with 5.3 percent butterfat and 3.9 percent protein. All milk is marketed through Dairy Farmers of America (DFA). Of DFA’s milk pool, 85 percent is used in the Fallon powder plant facility and the rest is bottled in Reno and sold in Nevada. The dairy herd is fed a
TMR comprised of byproducts sourced from across North America: almond hulls from California, beet pulp from Idaho, dry distillers grain from the Midwest, cotton seed from the South, canola from North Dakota and Canada, as well as raised alfalfa, corn silage and
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