Top Performers: Rodger Read of Reads Brown Swiss

How many times a day do you milk, and what is your current herd average, butterfat and protein? We milk two times a day. Our rolling herd average is 21,696 pounds of milk, 917 pounds of butterfat and 794 pounds of protein, with tests of 4.6% butterfat and 3.7% protein.

Describe your housing and milking facility. Our housing consists of half bedded pack and half free stalls with waterbeds. Our milking facility is a double-6 herringbone with swing milkers. Calves are separated for the first two weeks. They are then transitioned into group housing in dome huts with two other calves for five weeks. After that, they are transferred to our secondary farm, where my wife and I live, and are raised there until confirmed pregnant, at which point they return to the main dairy.

Who is part of your farm team, and what are their roles? Our farm team consists of one full-time employee who does milking and calf feeding, one part-time employee who concentrates on feeding and assists in harvesting, and one part-time relief milker. The team also includes our son, Greg, who handles most of the agronomy tasks and raises the dairy beef herd. Our daughter-in-law, Heather, works with our lease program. My wife, Lori, does the registrations, sire selection and genomics, while I do the matings and manage youngstock and cows.

What is your herd health program? We have a herd health protocol with our local veterinarian for vaccinations and monthly visits.

What does your dry cow and transition program consist of? We dry off our cows at 60 days before calving. In the past, we have experimented with changing this, but have subsequently decided the 60-day window results in the best outcome for our herd.

What is your average days in milk? Our DIM averages around 170.

What percentage of your herd is in their first lactation? 28.3%.

What is the composition of your ration, and how has that changed in recent years? We feed a total mixed ration that consists of haylage, silage, dry hay and a grain blend.

Tell us about the forages you plant and detail your harvest strategies. We plant winter rye that is harvested in late May-early June and followed with a second crop of soybeans. We also have a 5-year crop rotation of hay, corn, soybeans, barley and second-year hay.

What is your average somatic cell count, and how does that affect your production? Our average SCC is 239,000 over 12 months.

What change has created the biggest improvement in your herd average? Having good quality forages and breeding for high genetics.

What technology do you use to monitor your herd? Since late 2013, we have been using PC Dart and activity monitoring with SCR, now SenseHub by Merck. We prefer collars over ear tags. This monitoring system is our main heat detector.

What is your breeding program, and what role does genetics play in your production level? We select sires based on Net Merit Dollars, protein, fat and milk. We considered our herd a registered small commercial herd.  We genomic test all females, and select males. We do keep a clean-up bull that meets our standards in sire selection, but most of the breeding is A.I. Genomics plays an important role in preventing haplotype breeding and determining our beef-on-dairy females.

List three management strategies that have helped you attain your production and component level. Great employees, who make it to work even when the weather is horrible.  They are our most valuable asset on the farm. Genetics to produce healthy youngstock. And high-quality forages, harvested at the peak times, if possible.

Tell us about your farm and your plans for the dairy in the next year. Lori and I have been farming since 1989. I took over the farm from my father. Our herd mainly consists of Brown Swiss with a few Holsteins. We regularly lease cattle to local 4-H members. We genetically test 100% of the females on the farm and about eight bull calves a year. In the future we do not foresee any herd growth and plan to continue as we currently are.