No napping at Knapp Time Dairy

LARCHWOOD, Iowa — In early January, Kevin and Cari Knapp took a big step in their dairy farming journey when they moved their Jersey herd into their new 320-stall freestall barn. The site has five robotic milkers and capacity for another.

The new barn at Knapp Time Dairy is designed for smaller Jersey cows. The Knapps plan to keep the 95-stall tiestall barn that they had been milking in for the few Holsteins they have and for the Jersey cows and heifers that did not transition well to the robotic milking units.

The Knapps’ five children — Nathan, Tara, Angie, Erica and Logan— are all active on the farm, which is near Larchwood. The Knapps built their barn with their children in mind. Expanding from the tiestall barn to the freestall barn gives the Knapp kids the opportunity to continue with their dairy farming dream.

“Without Nathan having the interest, we would never have built the freestall barn,” Kevin said. “And Logan is young yet; he may follow in the same footsteps.”

Each of the kids has cattle in the operation. Kevin and Cari gifted the kids one heifer to start their 4-H showing. Now they each have 6-20 cows and heifers producing for the farm.

On the Knapps’ farm, everyone has their roles. Cari takes care of the cows, including milking, treatment, cow comfort and breeding.

“I trust in [Cari] every day,” Kevin said, “That is what makes it work. She is the boss.”

Kevin handles field work and feeding the cows. He also takes a special interest in sire selection.

“I prefer Jerseys because we sell to a cheese facility,” Kevin said. “We are paid based on milk components.”

Nathan houses the heifers at his farm and is the diesel mechanic for the farm.
Tara works off the farm as an ultrasound technician but is the nighttime milker in their tiestall barn. Angie cares for the calves and is the parts runner. Erica and Logan, who are still in high school, help with milking and small equipment in between their activities.

For Kevin, who grew up in a small town in rural Illinois, his dairy dream started with a field trip to a dairy farm in elementary school.

“I have never forgotten those visual pictures in my head of the cows milking,” he said. “[Since then] I never had a thought of doing anything else.”

Kevin worked for many farming neighbors with haying, and eventually he helped a dairy with milking. He said he quickly decided that dairying was the only agricultural business that can bring in revenue quickly.

“What else can a town kid do in farming to get a steady stream of income in two weeks?” Kevin said. “[With] hogs or row crops, you will be 6-8 months before your first check.”

Cari grew up on a dairy farm near Ellsworth, Minnesota. She attended South Dakota State University and earned a degree in dairy science and animal science and minored in agricultural business. After college, Cari managed a dairy farm for a few years and received her A.I. certification.

Kevin and Cari’s dairy farming journey together in Illinois started with renting a farm with a 20-stall stanchion barn to milk their 50 cows. However, the barn was maxed out, there was a lack of community support, and suppliers were far away, so the couple started searching for better opportunities.

They were connected with Marlin Debuhr, a Surge dealer at the time, who helped them fix up the Iowa dairy they reside on today. The dairy farm had been vacant for two years before they started to repair it and move in. Kevin traveled to the farm four times with loads from Illinois. In September 2003, the Knapps milked their 50 cows at night in Illinois, then loaded them up and hauled them to Iowa.

The Knapps moved into the 65-cow tiestall barn and later expanded it to 95 stalls. As the kids got older, they planned for the robot barn and an expansion. Now, as of January, that dream has become reality.

“We have always felt that the good Lord has blessed us and made it work,” Cari said.