Age: Never too old to learn something new Location: Horicon, Wisconsin History of your dairy, in a nutshell: My husband, Robert, and I own and operate a 400-cow dairy, raising replacement heifers as well as growing corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa. I am responsible for young stock up to 6 months old, in addition to financial records, human resources, helping to plant and harvest crops. I also enjoy keeping the farm landscape maintained beautifully. We have three children: Kelly, Adam and Kimberly.

Dairy farmer Mike Thresher is also a dairy specialist with Morrison’s Custom Feeds. Thresher has been working with both organic and conventional dairy producers in Vermont for more than a decade. Thresher has found that more dairy farmers are becoming interested in grazing – and that myths and missteps abound when opting to graze the herd.

“We identified three factors that make it difficult for young people to get started in grass-based farming. They take on too much risk, they don’t have enough management capabilities – especially when running a business – and they don’t have enough equity,” says Altfrid Krusenbaum, a dairy farmer from Elkhorn, Wisconsin.

Age: 51 Location: Neosho, Wisconsin History of your dairy, in a nutshell: My wife, Joann, and I started our own dairy farm (Tin Valley Farms) in 1999 in Neosho, Wisconsin. Since then, our four sons have helped on the farm and have expressed interest in being future partners. Today, we crop 1,000 acres of land, milk 180 cows and finish out all our bull calves. We also custom-harvest 1,000 acres.

This article was #2 of the Top 25 most well-read articles on www.progressivedairy.com in 2014. It was published in the March 12, 2014 print issue.