Sustainably focused

MARKESAN, Wis. — From the fields and feed center to the barns and parlor, capturing efficiencies in every area is the goal at Double S Dairy LLC. The farm is committed to proactively pursuing environmentally responsible practices that are gentle on the environment and positive for profitability.

As a result of their efforts, Double S Dairy received the 2024 National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Program Excellence Award in Environmental Stewardship. The team at Double S Dairy, which milks 1,500 cows near Markesan, employs a full-circle approach to environmental stewardship that is founded on a belief in doing their part to preserve what has been given to them.

“We’re called to be stewards of God’s creation,” Adam Franken said. “All of us here have a passion for agriculture. We love the seasonality of growing crops and seeing how crops work with the cattle. It all blends together as we take care of what we’re given. Our sustainability practices fit with that and help our farm to be profitable as well.”

Double S Dairy is owned by Dan and Steve Smits. Joining the brothers on the management team are Dan’s son, David Smits; Steve’s sons-in-law, Adam Franken and Drew Buiter; Butch Guenther, Mike Perry, Kyle Ter Beest, Ridge Grams, Cal Loomans, and the Smits’ brother, Mark, who is manager and part owner of the farm’s heifer ranch. 

In addition, Dr. Monty Belmer of Waupun Veterinary Service has worked with the herd for 37 years, and Bob Hagenow has served as the dairy’s nutritionist for 32 years.

“Double S Dairy operates with a complete sustainability mindset,” Hagenow said. “They are very good stewards of the natural resources they have been given to work with, and their management practices have proven to be sustainable in the true sense of the word.”

The first-generation farm was purchased by the Smits in 1993. Dan and Steve started in a tiestall barn before building a 220-cow freestall facility and milking parlor. Eighteen years ago, the Smits purchased another farm for raising heifers.

Cows are housed in three freestall barns, all of which have undergone expansions along with the milking parlor. The newest barn, built in 2016, is an 8-row cross-ventilated building housing 800 cows. Cows are bedded with manure solids made by a composter.

Cows are milked three times a day in a double-20 parallel parlor. The team monitors milk production, watching pounds of milk produced per day, as well as butterfat, protein and conductivity.

Sustainability efforts are translating into higher production, as cows recently hit record highs for performance, reaching 112.9 pounds of energy-corrected milk and 7.6 pounds of combined fat and protein. Guenther said it is homebred cows producing these numbers.

“Through the use of technology and genomics, we’re improving the quality of our herd exponentially,” he said.

Environmental stewardship is ingrained in the culture at Double S Dairy from top to bottom. Every employee at Double S Dairy is committed to, and contributes to, the farm’s mission of farming sustainably.

“Everyone here is on the same page,” Hagenow said. “They know the farm’s objectives and next opportunities.”

Weekly management meetings taking place for over 30 years are a big contributor to the farm’s success, Hagenow said.

“Everyone comes together intentionally to report, see opportunities, and painstakingly go over things that are not going well to minimize trends or issues that could take us off track,” Hagenow said.

Team members are devoted to protecting and preserving the land on which they make their livelihood. Minimizing soil loss and maximizing nutrient retention is always a priority, the management team said.

“Our focus on efficiency on the crop side comes through in pretty much everything we do,” said Perry, the farm’s crop manager. “We try to be good stewards of the land and utilize cover crops whenever possible. Our alfalfa has cover all the time, and silage ground goes into cover crop after harvest.”

Their planter is equipped with variable rate seeding and fertilizing. The planter utilizes row shut-offs to minimize fertilizer and seed waste and applies fertilizer in furrow, to ensure application only where needed. Perry said the farm also utilizes Y-drops to band fertilizer next to the row in season, which reduces the amount needed.

“We’ve invested heavily in technology on the planter and fertilizer applicators to ensure we put things exactly where they need to be,” he said. “There is no overlap.”

The dairy utilizes a GPS system that features maps for every field, which further reduces waste when applying seed and fertilizer. The farm uses minimal tillage practices to minimize erosion while maintaining standards for manure application. Several years ago, they installed two miles of long-range, underground piping to minimize road traffic and dust when spreading manure.

“The team here pays incredible attention to manure and manure nutrients being placed in the right crop at the right time for maximum utilization,” Hagenow said. “They’re very conscious of making sure it’s applied correctly with good knowledge of where neighbors and roads are. They maximize the amount used without infringing on anyone else.”

A 360 RAIN system uses a combination of leachate collection water, well water and manure to precisely irrigate fields at Double S Dairy.

“This system allows us to apply water and manure on crops in season in the row as the crop needs it, when it needs it,” Franken said.

The farm’s collection system ensures every drop of dirty water is collected off the bunkers and feed pile and sent to a separate pit to be used for summertime irrigation.

In addition to corn, alfalfa and soybeans, the dairy grows vegetable crops for human consumption, including sweet corn, green beans and peas.

The farm’s feed center serves as a point for storing and mixing feed indoors.

“The feed center allows for a very efficient feeding process,” said Ter Beest, the farm’s feed manager. “We keep feed out of the weather, and shrink is way down. We also premix feed to capitalize on feeding times.”

Ter Beest said they utilize feed bins for accuracy when adding ingredients to the mixer.

“Adding through an auger versus buckets removes human error,” he said. “Ingredients are in one spot making mixing time more consistent.”

Use of a feed software system helps ensure accurate mixing and feeding as well as efficient tracking of dry matter intake, feed efficiency, ECM, moisture in the ration and more,  Ter Beest said. Adjustments are made daily to maximize accuracy.

Prompt covering of feed and meticulous management of the face of the pile ensures minimal waste while preventing the release of volatile compounds into the air.

“We came from a basic understanding of sustainability, and like any other farmer, as we grew, we  evolved in our sustainable focus,” Guenther said. “We keep track of our practices and stay on top of technology.”

Conservatively using resources for the fullest benefit of their land and cattle has helped the team at Double S Dairy build a farm to stand the test of time.

“It’s a beautiful thing to see how God has created this cycle where animals take care of crops, and crops take care of animals,” Perry said. “We can be a part of that and facilitate it to be the best stewards of what we’ve been entrusted to. I think that’s important for our faith, the sustainability of the farm and for the next generation.”