Not Your Grandfather's Farm

Today I attended Wisconsin's Farm Technology Days with my parents, held near Waterloo in Dodge County. This annual event was hosted on the farm of the Crave brothers who own a state-of-the-art farm. By contrast to my parents' small farm which had 30 milking cows and 80 acres of land, this farm has approximately 2,000 cows and young stock and 1,800 acres. In recent years an on-site cheese factory was added, enabling the family to retain profits rather than simply accepting paltry raw milk prices. The tour revealed automation and the presence of technology in every aspect of the operation. Computerized cow ear tags reveal detailed information about the cow. Special fans with misters automatically regulate the temperature and humidity. Cows were herded and pushed into the milking parlor area in an efficient manner with an automated device. High-tech tractors costing around $500,000 loomed large. The operation was clean and efficient. The farm also has two anaerobic manure digesters that utilize methane from manure, generating enough electricity to power 550 typical Wisconsin homes. The dried solid portion of the manure is being used for livestock bedding and is the main ingredient in a potting mix product. For large farms, it is quite likely that more companies will seek these alternate energy partnerships in the future. This makes SO much more sense than the ridiculous "cow fart" tax proposed by the governor.

Pictured above: The Crave family farm

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