Growing like mad

LYNDON STATION, Wis. — Thirty-four years ago, Troy and Sandy Madland started a dairy farm in a rented barn milking 32 cows. Now, Lyndell Dairy milks 520 cows in a double-10 herringbone parlor as the Madlands’ children, Garrett Madland  and Theresa Holloway, look to continue their family tradition and begin the steps of ownership transition.

Lyndell Dairy finished its latest expansion in 2022. The family and their team of eight employees milk a herd that averages 102 pounds of milk per cow per day, with tests of 4.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein, and an average somatic cell count of 37,000.

“I always knew I wanted to farm,” Troy said. “I liked working with the cows — their temperament, their personalities, how each one is unique.”

When he was old enough to drive, Troy rented a pasture and bought four beef cattle and also worked for a neighboring farmer. After high school, he sold his small herd before attending the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. While there, he met Sandy  and gained additional  dairy experience through working off campus.

After graduating, Troy worked for the Dairy Herd Improvement Association for a year before deciding to start his own dairy. With his great-aunt and uncle co-signing a loan, Troy had what he needed to begin renting a tiestall barn and launch his dairy adventure.

“My aunt and uncle were business people,” Troy said. “They had to be sure we had a plan when we started out. Sandy and I presented a business plan for how we wanted the dairy to work, and they trusted us.”

The Madlands received a loan large enough to purchase 32 cows in 1991 and have some startup cash on hand. Troy spent that first year milking their cows in the morning, working on a neighboring farm during the day and coming back home to milk once more.

That went on until 1993, when the Madlands took their herd to a nearby farm and formed a partnership with another dairy farmer. After two years, the partnership dissolved. Troy and Sandy got word of another place coming up for rent and took their herd of nearly 40 cows to the current location.

“The former owner had sold in the spring, and we started renting early that fall in ‘93,” Troy said. “We rented for about two years, and then in 1996, we purchased the farm. We were milking 80 cows at that time in a double-7 herringbone parlor.”

With improved facilities and more established equity, the Madlands continued their expansion. Lyndell Dairy formed another partnership to take advantage of larger facilities, and as that second partner withdrew, Lyndell Dairy stood pat with 125 cows in its herd.

That is until 2005. That year set the stage for their largest expansion to that point. The Madlands began meeting with a business consultant, one they still meet with monthly, to determine the best way to handle their expansion. Following their own precedent, Lyndell Dairy built a 4-row freestall barn in 2006, and planned to renovate its parlor five years later.

“We were afraid to take too big of a bite,” Sandy said. “We had always borrowed what we could afford and grew in incremental steps. Those smaller steps helped us survive some tough times, because if we had done the parlor at the same time, we might not have made it through 2009.”

That was the year  milk prices dipped $7 on average globally from where they were the year prior, Sandy said. That change in the market saw farmers all over make tough decisions about the future of dairy.

“(With) the market in ’09, and the dry years of ’12 and ’13, we certainly faced some challenges,” Troy said. “But we knew after 2009 we still wanted to expand, and that led us to putting up a new dry cow barn.”

With 2012 being a lighter year for crops due to less rainfall, Troy and the crew that would normally be his fieldhands found work putting together the barn. The crew installed the stalls and fans and did the entirety of the interior work of the new barn on their own.

After Garrett graduated from UW-Platteville in 2014, he faced a decision of his own: find work on another dairy or come back home and help his parents.

“I knew I always wanted to farm,” Garrett said. “Dad said I had better come home because they weren’t sure how much longer they wanted to do it. I knew if I came back, there were some changes I wanted to make.”

At that time, Lyndell Dairy was milking around 330 cows three times a day in their double-7 parlor. To help increase their production, they upgraded to their current milking setup as a double-10 herringbone parlor and added 70 stalls to the dry cow barn to bring their total milking number to 400.

In 2022,a transition cow barn was added, bringing the milking herd total to its current  520.

Garrett and Theresa continue to put their own touches on Lyndell Dairy. Garrett, having spent a summer with Select Sires Inc. as an intern, adds a new genetics-focused outlook in his role as herdsman. Theresa, who manages raising  calves and  youngstock, also has pivotal experience with high-end cattle genetics.

“I interned with a farm in Illinois where they milked between 150-200 cows,” Theresa said. “It was a high-genetic herd, so I learned a lot in how to handle those kinds of cows. But I knew I wanted to be home.”

Theresa and Garrett continue to expand the focus of genetics into the herd at Lyndell Dairy. As that approach evolves, the family knows they would not be where they are without the help of their employees.

“We couldn’t be here today without the help we have,” Troy said. “We’re fortunate to have some outstanding employees; some have been working with us for 20-25 years. Our primary feeder has been here 20 years, and now his son has been with us for five. They know we value them and they’re the key to what we’ve done here.”

With a steady workforce and a vision for the future, Lyndell Dairy could hang its hat on its current situation, but that would not be the Madland way.

“As far as the future goes, I like where we’re at with our current number,” Garrett said. “But I wouldn’t rule out a thousand cows down the line.”