As printed in the May 2018 Holstein World.
Today’s dairy industry holds a lot of uncertainties, challenges and fears; but it is also a lifestyle of perseverance, tradition, joy and triumph. We take the good with the bad and try to look for those bright spots that keep us driving forward. Facing fears, overcoming challenges and continuing a long-standing tradition is what life and this story is about.
Seven Generations Strong
There is a farm in Tipton, Michigan, that has over 177 years of family perseverance and tradition around it. Ezara Simmons homesteaded the farm in 1831 and through six generations the farm has had various agricultural enterprises from Percheron show horses to Suffolk sheep and Hampshire hogs to the introduction of registered Holstein dairy cattle in 1961. Today, Gregg, Shelley and Parker Hardy have continued that tradition of developing a successful agriculture business on that same ground. Under the Hardys Holstein name they have developed numerous All-Americans and All-Canadians, won many purple banners and blue ribbons as well as awards from the DHIA for low SCC and other awards. Their farm has always been a progressive enterprise being one of the first over the years to implement numerous technological advances.
The dairy consists of around 600 head of cattle. There are 130 cows on robots that were implemented in 2011. On average, there are 60 dry cows and 25 milking head in a tie-stall and box stall barn that houses their more elite show and genetic cows. The cows on milk average 92-95 pounds a day per cow. The balance of the herd is heifer stock. In 2012, they added a robotic calf barn to feed their youngest animals.
The farm portfolio consists of 4,000 acres. They make 2,500 acres of soybeans and corn and the rest is wheat and alfalfa/grass fields. The crop farming operation has been updated to the latest technology with all GPS controlled tractors, planters, harvesters and more.
The farm is owned and operated by Gregg and Shelley Hardy and their son Parker. Shelly is the office manager for all of their operations, including two additional companies. She is also responsible for the management of a new internship program they have implemented for college students. Gregg oversees the operational aspects of the farm, along with direction on breeding and overall herd health. With a degree in reproductive physiology from Michigan State University, he uses his veterinary license exclusively for the farm. He also maintains a busy schedule with the crop operation and overseeing two commercial real estate companies. Parker has moved into the role of general manager of the farm overseeing day-to-day activities and handling all the IT work for the farm and their other businesses. He maintains all the automated technology around the farm from the robots to the equipment. He is also in charge of health programs, vet checks, general movement of cattle and, along with his father, handles crop work as well. The farm also employs seven full-time and two part-time employees that are integrated into various aspects of the agriculture operation.
They are once again meeting the industry challenges with expansion and growth as a dairy farmer’s worst nightmare occurred for them in mid-December. I asked Parker to take us through their experience as well as their decisions for the future and he has graciously agreed.
The Fire
“On December 19, 2017, at the stroke of midnight, Hardys Holsteins' main robotic facility and original historic barn caught fire and burnt to the ground. It was a moment as a young farmer starting his career that I will never, ever forget. The site of the barn that I literally grew up in along with six generations behind me completely engulfed in flames will forever be burnt into my memory (no pun intended). I was the first one to get to the scene as I live across the street in the original farm house. My first priority was the cattle, of course. I ran under the burning barn and drug out Hardys Brokaw Dolly, who had just recently calved a few hours before. Luckily, she followed me into the show barn of which myself and one of my employees began pulling the cows out into their pasture as the smoke began to smother the show barn. By then my parents had arrived. Gregg killed the power for the fire department and ran under the burning barn to get the rest of the cattle out of the hospital pen while Shelley assisted in getting the rest of the cattle out of the show barn. I began opening gates to the free stall barn and letting the commercial herd into the pastures and roads surrounding the farm. At this point all of the cattle were safe from the fire. From this point forward, I began evacuating important files and computer equipment from the main office. My office above the robots was completely gone before I even arrived. Neighbors began to arrive and surround the farm keeping the cattle in the general area. By 4 a.m., I had pushed all the young stock out into the pastures and opened the outside gates. I lined up our fleet of semi-trucks to create a funnel to bring the cattle across the road and into the remaining barns. All our neighbors, friends and family ran their rear ends off getting the cattle into the barns because the cattle wouldn't cross the line of smoke traveling across the pasture. By this time Gregg and I had also begun calling around to other farmers across the tri-state area looking for robotic farms that could take the cattle. This is a task that isn't easy to burden another fellow farmer with. After a few calls the Westendorp Family of Nashville, Michigan, and Homestead Dairy of Plymouth, Indiana, had welcomed us with open arms agreeing to accept cattle. Gregg and I sorted out the cattle we wanted to go to Westendorps' and then the rest of the cattle were sorted to head to Indiana. Our neighbors and myself hooked up the trailers to begin hauling. I loaded the two pot belly trailers along with three goose neck trailers and led the way with my trailer to Indiana at 8 a.m. Leaving my parents behind was a very difficult task for me but we all agreed that I was the only one that would be able to get the cattle entered into the new robot system in Indiana and get them adjusted the best. Thankfully good friends helped move the cattle to Indiana and Matt Oechsle stayed with me to help get cattle adjusted to their new temporary home. After a 36-hour non-stop run, I finally was able to rest at the Stookey family residence, who also welcomed me with open arms. I spent the next days at the Indiana dairy training and treating the cattle. I truly didn't think I was going to be able to make it home for our family Christmas. However, on Christmas Eve morning I was encouraged to get home by Homestead Dairy owner Brian. I loaded up the trailer with some dry cows and was finally able to head home to see my family. The following weeks up till now have included traveling back and forth to Westendorps' and Homestead Dairy taking care of the cattle and moving them to and from the dairy.
As heifers freshen, they are now milked in the show barn for a couple days and then transferred down the road to our neighbors - The Whelans of Top-O-Hill Farm.
Rebuilding Hardys Holsteins
The days that followed the fire, Gregg and I exchanged a lot of conversations about the future. Out of one of the many conversations we had, I will always remember. He explained how it is now my turn to decide the farm's next chapter. I hung up the phone after we got done talking and it felt like I had the weight of an elephant on my shoulders. Being a farmer isn't the easiest life in the world, especially in my generation. At this point it would be so easy to exit the scene and move on. However, through the next few days I sat and thought while emotions were tugging on me. I looked back on everything the farm has taught me and all the friends and connections that it has made me. The entire industry had reached out to me at this point and offered their help. This made my decision for me. I couldn't leave the farming industry. It was too deep in my blood. I decided that the history of Hardys Holsteins wasn't going to stop with me. It was going to become bigger and better than ever before. I made the decision that Hardys Holsteins will be completely remodeled. It is going to become more efficient than ever before. And so, we moved forward with plans to rebuild.
Where the old barn was we have already begun erecting a brand-new calving facility. This facility will house all of our ladies getting ready to have their calf. After calving the cow’s first milking and fresh cow protocols will be done within the walls of the original parlor (The concrete walls survived the fire). After a day or two of recuperation from calving the cow will walk up behind the show barn where a new ramp will be located guiding her to the new state-of-the-art robotic facility. This barn is around 580 ft. long and 174 ft. wide. It will include eight robotic DeLaval milkers, automatic alley way scrapers, a newly designed ventilation system to ensure optimal fresh air for the cows, and an automatic TMR feeding system of which Hardys Holsteins will once again be the first in Michigan and the tri-state area to have. We are also building a new office/tour center outside of the new barn. It will have large picture windows overlooking the inside of the barn from an elevated level. The upstairs will have a nice bar/entertainment lounge along with a conference room for guests to come and learn about our operation.” At present the building process is in high gear and all cattle are expected to be back home in July, which, with their incoming heifers will be enough animals to fill four of the robots. They plan to gradually expand the herd to a maximum barn capacity of 500 head on eight robots. “We are trying to fill the herd with our genetics as much as possible,” said Parker. “Thanks to sexed semen, we have a lot more heifers than we used to. Our current breeding program is set up to use all sexed semen. It has been working well with over 95% pregnancy rate after every reproductive check which is happening once a month currently. That will change to every other week once the new barn is built.”
The Future Outlook
Part of the discussions around rebuilding also took into account the current industry. “The future of the industry is changing at a rapid pace,” states Parker. “Whether for better or worse we have to adapt our operations in order to survive. We believe the future of dairy farming will be based off of tanker loads of milk versus multiple small pickups at small farms. This is why you see so many smaller farms shutting down. The milk processing industry is looking for big quantities of milk, not small, spread out quantities. This being said we have decided to expand our operation to produce one tanker load of milk per day. This, combined with our proven high-quality milk, we hope and believe will keep us attractive to the dairy market. We have designed the barn to be a 'milk-first' barn. This means the cows must go through a sort gate and milk before they can go into the feed alley to eat. In return this lowers our cost of pellets being fed in the robots. Designing the barn as a “milk-first” setup makes it so we don't have to feed as many pellets as we would in a 'free-flow' setup. Pellets are one of the biggest expenses in a robot dairy. Another big expense in a robot dairy is 'fetch cows,' otherwise known as cows that haven't come to the robot in 12 hours. Before in our old facility this was a problem. We were spending too much time fetching cows for the robot. This to a certain point begins to defeat the purpose of robots. So, using the knowledge of our seven years of robotic milking we have designed what we truly believe to be a fetch-free barn, saving us lots of money on labor. To summarize: We have built this new barn to become as efficient as possible. That is how we are going to make small milk checks work. Cutting down on labor and feed cost by designing a well thought-out barn and adding new robots such as the robotic feeding system that will save on fuel and labor together. We see a great change coming in the industry. We can’t say exactly what that may be, but we believe it will be very different from how we know it now. As a family we don't always agree with the direction the registered business is going but without going into detail we will continue to use the tools we always have to breed the best and most efficient cows possible.”
Parker is in the process of updating the website to include updates of the building process at www.hardysholsteins.com. As national convention nears, the Hardy family also invites you to include them in your travel plans. They can be reached at info@hardyfarms.co or 517.431.2477 ext. 1001.
Editor's note: Thanks to the Hardys for their help with this story and supplying the various photos.
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