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northeastern Ohio | My grandfather Carl started milking cows here in 1945. I have no idea how many he had at that time, but by the late 1950's he had a tie stall barn with about 50 stalls. And 3 hard working sons.
The oldest son got married in 1962 and bought the neighboring farm where he had a 40 stall barn. Grandpa expanded his tie stall barn to 63 stalls and the other 2 sons milked there until 1988.
By 1987, we had expanded the herd to 120 cows. We would milk 63 cows in the tie stall barn and then bring in the other 60 cows from the loafing shed. It took over 4 hours, twice a day for a total of 8 hours milking.
Built a double 6 parlor and 120 cow freestall barn in 1988. Milked there until 2023.
In 2023 we built a 300 cow barn and 40 stall rotary. Many of you have seen the video of my family milking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXxe7QiEH4k
My goal is to keep my dairy farm 100% family operated. We find ways to get everything done without hiring outside labor.
I've posted about the future of dairy farming in past posts. You either need to specialize or get more efficient. You can have a profitable 50 cow dairy if you find the right niche. On farm processing, specialty products, agri-tourism, ect.
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50 cow dairy
