Dairy Short Course
Afternoons during World Dairy Expo week: exclusive farm visits and informative presentations.
Option to choose one, two or three afternoons!
WHEN
- During World Dairy Expo week
- Afternoons on Tuesday-Thursday (no course on Friday)
- 12.30 – 6 PM
In 2022:
- Tuesday, October 4
- Wednesday, October 5
- Thursday, October 6
COSTS
- $150 for one day
- $275 for two days
- $400 for three days
TOPICS
- Tuesday: Ag tourism, robotic milking and telling your dairy’s story
- Wednesday: Organic and conventional dairy, on-farm processing and sales of milk and ice cream, ag tourism, rotary parlor with robotic use
- Thursday: Bringing family members in, on-farm cheese plant, the value of making connections
COURSE INCLUDES
- An exclusive farm visit for only this group
- Presentation by owner
- Time to see the operation well
- Ability to ask questions directly to the owners
ORGANIZED BY
Two companies join together to bring you this course: Global Cow and Global Dairy Outreach. To contact us:
Jill Stahl Tyler, Global Cow;
(802) 254-2879; jill@globalcow.com
Karen Nielsen, Global Dairy Outreach
(608) 512-5040 karen@globaldairyoutreach.com
PRESS
On Tuesday, October 4, Tina Hinchley of Hinchley’s Dairy Farm will share her family farm’s decision to open Hinchley’s Dairy Farm Tours.
Tina and her husband Duane run their operation with their daughter Anna, who has recently finished college and started working with her parents. In 2018, the Hinchleys chose to install robotic milking equipment for their 240 head of Holstein cows (with a few colored breeds as well). They also farm 2500 acres, for cow feed and cash crops.
Diversification through ag-tourism makes Tina especially aware of the “importance of having an honest conversation with people visiting farms. Every farm has a story,” Tina states. “As consumers become more disconnected and controlled by social media with negative images and misleading advertising and labeling, it’s time to step up and talk about what is really going on at our farms.”
“Sharing our life and dreams with others can be emotionally rewarding and also financially profitable,” Tina says. “We need to be able to tell our story in a real, moving and passionate way.”
On Wednesday, October 5, James Baerwolf of Sassy Cow Creamery will welcome course participants to his and his brother Rob to their two farms and creamery. They have chosen to run one dairy organically and the other conventionally, have installed a rotary parlor and started to work with ag tourism—and run a farmstead milk bottling and ice cream-making business since 2008. Sassy Cow’s on-farm dining expanded over the pandemic, and now includes grilled cheese, flavored milks and many ice cream choices.
“We love our cows and the work on the farm. It’s a true family tradition that continues to be passed down,” says James. “We feel the success of this tradition is directly related to how well dairy cattle are taken care of, and we place the highest value on the well-being of our animals. Every farm-related decision must be good for the cows. Even our name conveys the attitude that it all starts with superior cows.”
On Thursday, October 6, Charlie Craves of Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese will talk about their family’s business from starting with only 57 cows to expanding to their current herd of over 2,000 cows… and building from two brothers to 13 family members all working in the family business.
Charlie notes that innovation and hard work have been key factors for them. He also stresses the importance of key relationships and planning for the future. “We have built on the basics, and the basics can take us over the generations,” he notes. “Building relationships… transition planning and implementation… strong considerations of value-added products… diversity… all these are important to dairy farming as a business.”