The next leap into farming

GILLETT, Wis. — Farming is the only occupation that has ever called to Ed “Junior” Patzer, IV, and dairy farming organically fits with how he and his wife, Sydnie, along with their children, Emelia and Ace, choose to live their lives.

The Patzers launched their organic dairy farming era last July, purchasing their Oconto County dairy farm near Gillett, from Junior’s uncle, Jay Patzer.

“I’ve been working for my uncle for the last 10 years,” Junior said. “I’ve been doing a lot of the custom work and milking for over five years. He decided he was ready to retire and offered to sell us the farm. We saw a great opportunity.”

In the past six months, the Patzers have grown their uncle’s 35-cow herd to 50, which they milk in the farm’s double-4 parlor. The herd is housed in a sand-bedded freestall barn constructed by Jay in 2005. The farm includes 150 acres of cropland, where the Patzers make hay for their herd, along with 92 acres of permanent pasture. The Patzers graze their cows on a 32-day rotation during the growing season. The cows are supplemented with grain that is purchased for the time being.

The Patzers ship their milk to Organic Valley and work with Midwest Organic Services Association for organic certification. The Patzers believe the work to be organic pays off for smaller operations like theirs.

The Patzers intend to calve their herd year-round, calving most of the cows in the late summer and early fall to capitalize on peak production in the fall and winter, which coincides with increased Organic Valley premiums.

The majority of the Patzers’ cows are Normandes and Normande-Fleckvieh crosses.

“People either know exactly what a Normande is, or they’ve never heard of them,” Junior said. “They are great cows — great grazers, very efficient and healthy.”

The Patzers bull-breed. Junior said he is considering bringing in a Jersey or Brown Swiss bull for his next cross to boost components.

“One thing we consistently heard this summer during our certification inspections was how good our cows look, how they have such good, healthy feet,” Sydnie said. “Hearing that from the inspectors was great.”

Healthy cows are important to the Patzers.

“There aren’t many options for treating anything (organically),” Junior said. “If you get one with a chronic issue, the best course is to ship her. We don’t typically have those issues. The cows are healthy and less stressed.”

During their first six months, the Patzers culled heavily from their uncle’s herd, making room for younger animals coming in.

“There were some older cows that weren’t breeding back like they should or had a higher somatic cell count,” Junior said. “We raise all our heifers — we have 60 on hand right now — so we plan to continue to cull heavily and weed out any problems.”

In addition to their recently acquired dairy farm, the Patzers have been operating a beef herd since 2017, and they operate a conventional cropping operation in partnership with Junior’s maternal grandfather. The Patzers plan to expand, purchasing the rest of that cropping operation in the future. They will then begin to transition at least some of that crop ground to organic production.

“Adding the dairy herd is another level of diversification in our farm, creating a sustainable income stream throughout the year,” Junior said. “It was a bigger leap into farming.”

In addition to their farming enterprises, the Patzers operate a custom baling business throughout the summer and a snowplowing business in the winter. Community involvement is important to them, and they work together to homeschool their children.

When they took over the farm, the Patzers spent time updating.

“There were a lot of things that Jay was grandfathered in for, but when the name on the farm changed, things needed to be taken care of,” Sydnie said. “We had great inspectors, though, who were willing to work with us to ensure things got taken care of.”

Among the updates were remodeled stalls and updated lights throughout the barn to brighten the facility. They also replaced the pulsators in the parlor.

“That first month, before the first milk check came in our names, was a little stressful,” Sydnie said. “There was a lot of money going out for those upgrades and not a lot of money coming back in. Things are calmer now.”

The Patzers have a solid working relationship with their Farm Service Agency office.
They credit this relationship with helping them make decisions that are in the best interest of building the sustainable future they desire for their farm.

The Patzers plan to continue to improve and update their farm and accomplish their goals of cow comfort and increased production.

“The cows are averaging about 32 pounds (of milk) a day right now,” Junior said. “The short-term goal is to hit 40 pounds and 50 is the long-term.”

Growing a farm that is sustainable, efficient and profitable is the Patzers’ ultimate goal.

“There is a lot of family heritage on this farm,” Sydnie said. “The dairy farm is what has kept the family and the property together. It’s exciting to own the dairy now. It’s a very simple operation, and we are excited for the next season of life and what it might bring.”