Twin Birch Dairy Farm

Twin Birch Dairy LLC was established in 1960. For more information, scroll down or click on the following links:

Cows | Crew | Feed & Crops | Manure Mgmt

THE COWS: The farm raises all its heifer calves for replacement and any bulls born are sold at the age of 2-3 days old. As soon as the calves are born on the farm they are moved to the greenhouse structure where they feed on whole milk and, later, small amounts of grain. The greenhouse facility has the capacity for 70 head. Each calf has its own individual housing unit within the greenhouse. The greenhouse offers an excellent environment for healthy growth. After 6 to 8 weeks in the greenhouse, the calves are moved to the next grouping at a separate heifer barn. After traveling through several groupings (similar to grade school), the two-year-old heifers are bred and returned to the hospital area at the main barn to await the arrival of their calves. An in-barn computer keeps track of each cow’s gestation period, which is normally around nine months. After delivery, the cow will join other milking Holsteins in the freestall barn connected to the milking parlor. After sixty days the cow is bred back, usually by artificial insemination, to begin the cycle again.

Cows are milked 3 times a day, each one taking 8 hours to complete. Approximately 8,000 gallons of milk is produced each day (about 24,000 pounds of milk per cow per year). The raw product is then shipped to Dairylea for fluid drinking milk and cheese processing. The storage tanks in the milk room hold 8,000 gallons of milk and keep it at a constant temperature of 38 degrees until the milk is picked up by the shipping tank every day. The milk is transferred from the milk tank to the shipping tank through a pump system.

THE CREW: While Dirk and Ken II (“Tad”) share in the job of keeping the whole operation running efficiently, Ken Sr. continues to help out wherever he can and Dirk’s wife (Karen) works as bookkeeper and payroll manager for the 25 full-time employees. Among those employees are Herdsman, Patrick Kehoe who oversees 4 assistant herdsmen; Shop Foreman Ken Alnutt, who keeps the machinery up and operating; Mark Leubner, Building and Grounds Maintenance and various other able and competent employees, including 10 full-time milkers.   A nutritionist and a veterinarian are also employed on a weekly basis.

FEED & CROPS:   Twin Birch Dairy’s commodity buildings store the minerals, nutrients and feed components needed for growth and production. Cows are fed a total of 80 tons of feed every day by an automatic feed mixing truck and they consume 100,000 gallons of water on a daily basis. The 850 acres of alfalfa and 1500 acres of corn provide the necessary feed, which is stored in the bunk silo adjacent to the freestall housing unit. Other crops grown include 200 acres of wheat. The wheat grain is sold and the wheat straw (stalk) is used for bedding packs.

MANURE MANAGEMENT: The freestall housing is exactly what is sounds like…cattle can move around freely or may lie down on comfortable mattresses created by the separated manure solids. To keep the barn floor manure free, an automatic alley scraper cleans the floor at regular intervals, emptying the manure into a holding area beneath the ground floor. Every 15 minutes the manure is pumped into an anaerobic digester, where the methane is extracted to reduce greenhouse emission. The methane gas is converted to electricity and heat killing pathogens, making nutrients more available to the plants. The farm will produce the majority of its needed electricity during the summer months. In the winter months, when the tunnel fans are not needed, electricity costs will be fully paid for by the farm’s digester. After digestion, manure is separated into solids and liquids. The solid is used to create fiber for bedding and the liquid is pumped into a 6 million gallon storage area until it is used at the appropriate time as a nutritional supplement for crops via spreading.

TWIN BIRCH DAIRY LLC

info@twinbirch.net          Tel (315) 784-5840

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