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When Brett Beavers’ dad, Bob, was still in high school, the family farm in Carleton, Nebraska, transitioned from stanchions to a single-five herringbone parlor for the family’s 90 cows.
According to most accounts (and accountants), dairy profitability was only a dream during the first half of 2018. For many dairy farmers, just economically surviving could be deemed a successful outcome.
At the same time a new Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) processing facility was being built near the farm, the Perazzo Brothers Dairy in Fallon, Nevada, began expanding its herd and building a new double-30 milking parlor. When the family made the move to their new milking facility, they also decided to add a farm museum that looks down over the parlor.
Great opportunities are few and far between, and how they are utilized can make all the difference in the world. When Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) began building a processing plant for powdered milk in Fallon, Nevada, in 2014, dairy farmers saw opportunities abound.
At Michael and Peter McMahon’s E-Z Acres in Homer, New York, herd growth has always occurred alongside an intensive focus on environmental stewardship, cow comfort and community outreach. The brothers, who purchased the farm from their parents in the mid-1980s, have grown their family’s original eight cows and 150 acres into the 2,500-acre farm, milking 800 head of registered Holsteins in a closed herd.
“When you’re a farm family, you become family with every other farm family.” These emotional words were spoken by Melissa Briel, just two short months after the tragic passing of her husband, Dan, and 14-year-old son, David, in a silo accident at their farm in Wisconsin.
Reinford Farms in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, was one of the recipients of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy’s seventh annual U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards. (Learn more about the award winners.)
For dairy farmers, sustainability is a package of three components, combining environmental stewardship and social benefits with profitable economics. At Reinford Farms, a depackager is helping optimize all three.
In addition to photography, the FarmHer organization includes branded apparel, podcasts and a series aired on RFD-TV.
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