Seniors! CELEBRATING OUR
See pages 12 & 13 of the Second Section for our High School Senior Feature!
DAIRY ST R
Volume 22, No. 6
May 23, 2020
“All dairy, all the time”™
Technology keeps farm in central location Lenkaitis Holsteins stays rooted in busy area By Stacey Smart
stacey.s@dairystar.com
ST. CHARLES, Ill. – Andy and Sarah Lenkaitis farm in a unique area. With a subdivision across the road, it is a place where country and city collide. The nearest neighbor is a mere 330 feet away; therefore, rural solitude is something these farmers know not. Rather than ght it, Andy and Sarah embrace their location as an opportunity to educate their many non-farm neighbors. The couple farms in partnership with Andy’s parents, MaryEtta and the late Albert Lenkaitis, who bought the farm in 1983. For the past 5.5 years, Andy and Sarah
STACEY SMART/DAIRY STAR
Andy and Sarah LenkaiƟs, with their son, Lucas, stand in the barn of their new roboƟc facility where they milk 80 cows with two robots near St. Charles, Illinois
have managed day-to-day operations with the help of two hired hands. Andy also works for GEA Farm Technologies as an AMS herd management systems engineer. Andy and Sarah have a son, Lucas, who will be 2 in July. Despite their farm’s compact setting, the Lenkaitis family chose to build a new facility 2.5 years ago and expand their herd at the current site. Lenkaitis Holsteins is one of only three dairies left in Kane County. A boom in development in the 1990s to early 2000s caused many farms to either exit the business or leave the area. Milking 80 cows and farming 150 acres in the village of Campton Hills, just outside the city of St. Charles and 42 miles west of Chicago, the Lenkaitis family operates in tight quarters in an area where land gets snatched up quickly. “This is a tough area to Turn to LENKAITIS | Page 5
No experience, no problem Canter chooses dairy lifestyle despite lack of previous background By Danielle Nauman danielle.n@dairystar.com
DANIELLE NAUMAN/DAIRY STAR
MaƩhew Canter milks 50 cows near Cashton, Wisconsin. Canter embarked on his dairy farming career three years ago, starƟng his rst-generaƟon organic dairy farm on his ridge-top farm.
CASHTON, Wis. – Matthew Canter is not exactly sure what drew him to dairy farming three years ago or why he still loves the profession three years later. But the former Army soldier turned rst-generation dairy farmer knows he has indeed found his niche in life. Canter, originally from southeastern Ohio, found himself and his family moving to Wisconsin in 2014 following his time in the Army. “There were no dairy farms where I grew up,” Canter said. “I had zero experience with dairy before moving up here.” When they moved to Wisconsin, the Canters purchased a ridge-top farm, near Cashton, Wis., that Matthew and his wife Ashley along with children Margaret, 11; Helen, 10; George 7; Lucy, 5 and Clare, 3, all call home. On the small 10-acre farm, which they named Highland Farm, they rst began raising a small ock of sheep. “This farm has seen so many attempts of just about every kind Turn to CANTER | Page 6