From the ground up

FREEPORT, Minn. — Dedication and a can-do attitude are common themes for the Herzog family. This was on display in November 2024 when the family began milking in a new barn they built mostly on their own.

“This is like a dream,” Diane Herzog said.

She and her husband, Allen, and their sons, Matt and Nick, milk 142 cows in a double-12 parallel parlor and house them in a freestall barn. The new freestall barn, which is split into two pens, has one feed lane.
The 170 stalls are in three rows and are bedded with sawdust. The barn also has tunnel ventilation with five 60-inch fans and three 36-inch fans. With overstocking, the barn has a capacity for 200 cows.

“It was the idea to grow the herd a little bit more,” Nick said.

Before building the new barn the Herzogs were milking at two different locations. Allen and Diane owned a 65-cow herd on their home site and Matt and Nick partnered in 72 cows housed at a neighboring site. As of Jan. 1, Matt and Nick have full ownership of all the cows on the farm.

“(The cows) thought they were in heaven (in) this new barn,” Diane said.

The barn-building process started in spring 2021 when they worked on the feedlot paperwork to get permits for the animals. In spring 2023, the family started working on plans and paperwork for the building. In November 2023, they put poles in the ground.

During the building process, Matt and Nick spent many hours turning the design of the barn into a reality. With help from Matt’s old boss, Jay Blenker, of Blenker Construction and Concrete, and the warm winter last year, they were able to complete the construction in about a year.

“There wasn’t a day we couldn’t work on it,” Nick said.

With help from farmer friends, they poured 70% of the concrete. All the framing on the outside was done by Matt and Nick. Blenker helped with the poles and rafters and other big projects on the barn along with giving guidance when needed.

The family poured walls until Christmas 2023. In January 2024, Blenker came and helped them put the rafters up and the roof on. From there Matt and Nick worked on the walls and did the outside steel. This meant the building was fully enclosed during the spring so they could work on it even when it was raining.

By April 2024, they were digging water lines and anything underground as well as working on the electrical wiring. In June 2024, they were pouring manure lanes.

“We were tired the whole time,” Matt said.

They would often work late into the night preparing things for the following day.

“Someone’s coming the next day, so you have to get it ready before they come right away at 8 in the morning,” Nick said.

When they finished the first half of the barn, they put eight heifers on that side of the barn to make it easier for the cows to go inside the new building. They moved the cows into the new barn Nov. 18, 2024, for the first milking.

“From the way everybody was talking we thought … we’re going to be carrying the cows in there,” Allen said.

The Herzogs did not know what to expect or how the cows would react to the new facility.

“It was kind of scary because everybody said it was going to take so long to teach them,” Diane said. 

When the cows were fully moved in, they ran the chain scraper continuously to prevent the cows from lying in the alley. There were only two cows that laid in the alley, an act they were able to correct within three days.

“We were expecting the worst and it went very well,” Nick said.

One pen in the barn houses the herd that was previously owned by Allen and Diane and the other holds the cows the brothers brought.

During the transition into the new barn, there were challenges to overcome. The brothers’ herd had feet issues since they were on mats all day at their previous location. Matt said they put biotin in the total mixed ration a couple of months before and trimmed their hooves before moving them into the new barn. They said the biotin was to help strengthen the cows’ hooves before the move.

“(After moving into the new barn) we hoof trimmed them every other day for about two weeks,” Matt said.

Matt and Nick were expecting the first couple of milkings to take 4-5 hours, but to their surprise, they took 2.5-3 hours. Now they are able to milk the cows in approximately 90 minutes. They can milk all the cows in the new barn faster than milking both groups of cows in two separate barns.

Since Matt and Nick have full ownership of the cows on the farm, it allows Allen and Diane to pull back.

“The nice thing is we can step back and we know the work’s going to get done,” Allen said.

Throughout the different transitions, the Herzog family has put in hours of work to accomplish their goals.

“I wish I could have been … the person that stood back (and watched),” Matt said. “When you’re doing it, you don’t realize the progress you’re getting.”