The timeline for Alex and Kip Neuenschwander doesn’t mirror other fourth-generation dairy farmers. The brothers have only been milking cows themselves for the past ten years. The answer to how these young dairy farmers have not only managed, but also thrived during a tough dairy economy lies in their ability to maximize cow comfort and produce excellent genetics.
Debuting during the Depression by the brother’s great-grandfather, the family dairy was passed down from one generation to the next. While the boys were born and raised on their family’s Indiana dairy farm, in 2008 the decision was made by their father and uncle to sell out.
“The milk price was good, and they were ready to retire,” Alex says.
Just out of high school, Alex was not exactly sure what his next life chapter would include. He began raising heifers for a couple of neighboring dairy farms. For one dairy, the heifers would calve in and Alex would get them going before they returned to the farm around three weeks fresh. The other dairy took the springing heifers back home before calving.
“Raising heifers was fine, but the margins were very tight and I was not overly interested in expanding the heifer raising enterprise,” Alex explains. “I have always loved milking cows, so when an opportunity presented itself to get back into milking, we took it.”
On the brink of a terrible dairy economy, Alex feels like he made the right decision to raise heifers at first. A few years later, he decided to start milking and purchased 100 cows. Over a few years, he slowly added to the herd. In 2016, his brother, Kip, returned home to the family dairy and the duo were milking 450 cows.
The farm has a combined 3,000 acres of which 1,000 is allocated to the dairy. On those acres, they raise corn, alfalfa, and tall fescue, which Alex claims is their secret ingredient. Their uncle, Mike, oversees the crop farming and the dairy purchases the remainder of their corn silage needs from his 2,000 acres.
In 2019, Alex and his brother invested in a brand-new, hybrid ventilation freestall barn and today they milk 950 cows.
“We put up a facility that can maximize cow comfort and dial in on efficiencies all over the place,” they share.
Cows are milked three times daily in the old double-12 parlor.
“I felt we weren’t fully optimizing the parlor,” Alex notes. “But we are certainly optimizing it now.”
Doing Things Right
Herd production has always been a big focus and with a bulk tank average that hovers over 90 pounds per day, Alex says the emphasis is on producing nutrient-dense milk. With strong components, the brother’s herd produces 7.24 pounds of combined fat and protein per cow.
“We have been focusing on fat and protein the last several years and through good genetics and good feed, the cows have responded,” he says.
The state-of-the-art cow barn provides excellent cow comfort to also help cows perform well. Different stall sizes for different pens maximize cow comfort per pen.
“Dry cows have 52-inch stalls. Mature cows have 50-inch stalls, first lactation heifer have 48-inch stalls,” Alex explains.
The brothers gave their older facilities a total revamp to repurpose how those facilities are now used. Their cow’s calve in the older facility, which includes a small milking center.
“The stalls are much bigger in that barn,” he says. “We have a just-in-time calving area where we bring the cow in calve.”
Newborn calves are fed their dam’s colostrum immediately after birth, which Alex reports they have had good results with.
“The first colostrum is harvested right beside the calf, as she is cleaning off the calf,” Alex says. “We have seen tremendous results with this. Feeding very fresh colostrum to the calf.”
Utilizing genomics to determine future replacements, Alex and his team raise just what they think they need.
The beef x dairy cross calves leave within a few days and the dairy raises all the Holstein calves.
Great Team
The brothers each bring a different skill set to the table. Alex’s passion lies in improving herd genetics and he serves as the onsite farm manager. Kip is Neu-Hope Dairy’s maintenance manager.
“My brother and I work well together and have different strengths,” Alex says. “We have a good relationship and I’m thankful for that.”
Neu-Hope Dairy has 13 employees. The brothers share that they have a terrific team and good managers.
“People come and work hard every day to do the right thing,” Kip says. “We all have passion and we all try to do a little bit better every day.”
When interviewing new hires, the brothers ask candidates what they want to get better at every day.
“I feel like we have the best team in place,” Alex shares. “If we treat people well and compensate them fairly, people stay around here for a while.”
Understanding all too well the challenges that face their dairy – like the rising costs to feed their cows, is the reason Neu-Hope only produces what they need for replacement heifers.
A second, nearby facility allows them to raise and care for all the cattle—from newborns to milking string.
The Indiana dairy’s current mantra is to maximize income over feed costs, which is easier said than done.
“We’re getting creative on feeding,” he says. “We put extra focus on more pounds of components.”
The brothers work with ever.ag to help them manage the risk with their feed costs.
“It would be much scarier if we didn’t have that kind of risk management in place,” he says. “Whenever our prices are low, we try to have as much lockdown and profit as we can.”
Neu-Hope Dairy milk is currently sold to Danone. The Neuenschwander brothers understand that consumers want healthy and nutritious food and say because of that there is going to be a need for dairy farmers for a long time to come.
