Empire Dairy

All Photos of this Dairy : http://picasaweb.google.com/DanBrogdon/EmpireDairy#
Norm gave us an interesting family history. Being of Portuguese roots, his dad moved the family to Wiggins from suburban Toronto in 1982. They started in a 50 cow partnership and quickly grew to 500 cows in 1988. In 1988, Norm returned from the Tulare farm show with plans to build a Dbl 25 parallel parlor.

The basic growth driver was the size of the parlor. So the dairy continued to expand using dry lots and then moved into Freestall barns. Today at 4800 cows they now milk in a Dbl 60 parallel and a Dbl 30 parallel for special needs cows. The Dbl 30 was unique in that the cows entered in the center and the milkers were on the sides of the barn.

The farm recently received a 20000 hd permit and plan to build a new Dbl 80 parlor to allow for future growth.

The farm has about 80 employees (about 95 pct hispanic). They do all the aspects of the dairy (milking, crops and hfrs). Their labor efficiency is 62.5 cows per full time equiv.

Wednesday October 22 - On the Bus

Boarded the Bus at 700 on our way to visit 4 dairies. Jeff Harding is our MC on the bus. We are passing the mic and doing self introductions. Jeff always does a great job getting participants to talk about their business.
There about 50 people on the tour. There is a good mix of producers and industry folk. PDMP did a great job organizing this tour.

As I listen to the self introductions, I am impressed by how well the PA dairy industy is represented by the participants.
2 NY and 1 Md paricipant round off the tour.

Please post any thoughts related to the first 1 hour bus ride.

Colorado Dairy Tour - Oct 21-24, 2008

Special thanks to the AgChoice Dairy Team for giving me the opportunity to tour Colorado. I've been to the West and Mid-West to see Dairies in 1997, 1998, and 2003. Each time, the experience gave something I could bring back home to PA to share with customers and colleagues.

The Blog idea hit me as a way to share the experience "on the fly". Please post your thoughts and questions. Everything is fair game as I think this can be a neat way to uncover some new ideas as well as provide some comparisons and contrasts of the PA style vs Co style of dairy farming.

This is a special trip for me as it marks the first time that my wife Carol was able to go West with me on a business trip. AgChoice is great at providing educational opportunities and encouraged bringing your spouse. In case anyone is wondering, AgChoice is paying for my expenses and the Brogdon's are paying for Carol. Thank you AgChoice for the opportunity to gain industry experience!

Of course the trip takes some planning. We will fly out of Pittsburgh and arrive in Denver on Saturday, October 18. I am taking Monday off as a Vacation day and will join the PDMP tour group on Tuesday, Oct 21.

Upon arrival in Denver, we'll rent a car and do some sight seeing. Looking forward to the trip!!!