A rainbow of cows

LA PORTE, Ind. — Sitting just 55 miles away from the third-most populous city in America is Lynadie Farm, home to cows of every color. Ryan Wilson, along with his brother, Kyle, father, Jeff, and Chad Conrad, farm together in Porter County. Milking between 80-100 cows, the group farms in the northwest corner of the Crossroads of America, milking five of the seven common dairy breeds. 

“My love for dairy came when I was little,” Ryan Wilson said. “I got an Ayrshire calf. My grandpa and dad went and helped me pick her out. I raised her from a bottle, showed her at the fair and won grand champion. I was hooked after that.”

Wilson, who also works for the City of Valparaiso, works the evenings at Lynadie Farm, feeding and milking the cows with 10 auto-takeoff units in a stanchion barn that was built in 1955. 

Wilson and his brother had cows from their younger days as 4-H members, housing them at their grandparents’ farm, and later at their uncle’s farm. When Wilson’s uncle was told his milk was no longer going to be picked up, the brothers needed to move their cows to another home, partnering with Conrad. 

“We met with Chad and told him our vision,” Wilson said. “He had the buildings and everything that we needed. We want to build our herd up and get some cows that can produce quite a bit and also compete in the show ring. We want the kids to have a good time with 4-H and continue showing and working with our cows. Our ultimate goal is to get a cow on the colored shavings at World Dairy Expo.”

 Wanting to have a place in the show ring leads to some of the breeding decisions for Wilson and his family, while also having high-producing cows.

“We look for good feet for the freestall barn and production,” Wilson said. “We like to win at the fair, but it’s all about how much you can produce. So we combine our strategies, breeding some for showing and some for production. When we’re at Expo, we’ll look at the cows and see who they’re bred to and make some decisions based on that.”

Atypical at Lynadie Farm is an ingredient in its ration.  Lynadie Farm feeds a diet of haylage, corn silage and an unconventional addition from Albanese Candy Factory. The farm mixes the candy deemed unsuitable for retail with grain and adds it to the mix for its cows, giving the animals a sugary surprise.

“When we have people visit the farm, it’s interesting to see how they react when they see the candy,” Wilson said. “Sometimes they get confused about why a cow is chewing on a gummy worm. I tell them it makes the milk sweeter as a joke.”

Wilson and Lynadie Farm do their best to help educate others in their area about dairy farming. The variety of breeds on the farm helps draw people in for a chance to learn more about the industry.

“We’ll have little kids from nearby subdivisions stop and yell at the cows,” Wilson said. “We’ll have parents stop to see them in the pasture. It’s fun when that happens because it gives us a chance to educate people about dairy farming.”

Discussing breed differences is important to Wilson and the team.

“With our variety of cows, we get to tell them about how the Jerseys’ (milk) is higher in butterfat,” Wilson said. “They’re better for butter and cream and since they’re so friendly, they’ll come right up to the fence. We let them know that Holsteins are the traditional black and white cows, but they can also be red and white. Having five of the major dairy breeds on our farm helps us connect and educate an interested public.”

That education continues with Ryan’s wife, who works at Valparaiso University and will bring students from all over the world and different parts of the country to see the color wheel of cows. 

“She has one student who lived in downtown New York City,” Wilson said. “She had never touched a cow before, and she thought it was so cool that she could come to the farm and do that.”

The owners at Lynadie Farm work together to produce high-quality milk, but to also compete in the show ring at the county fair and the Indiana State Fair. 

“Having our show animals gives our kids something to work towards,” Wilson said. “My nieces and nephews and my daughter have shown in 4-H, and to have the chance to watch them walk in the ring and be successful is our reward.”

Depending on the calving schedule, 25-30 cows in the milking barn belong to the Wilson family. The younger generation has taken the reins of the shavings at county fairs, but the separate breeds was something that started with Wilson and his sister.

“We started with Holstein, and then when my sister and I were in our second or third year of 4-H, we had some Brown Swiss,” Wilson said. “We were always showing against each other, so I decided I wanted an Ayrshire so we could show in different categories.”

Now, each of the younger Wilsons has their own breed to show, working together instead of competing against each other. The farm also allows Wilson to raise his kids near agriculture, something that he appreciated when he was younger.

“I’ve always wanted my kids to be in agriculture and do the cow industry like we did,” Wilson said. “It’s really nice that we can still work with them on the farm. My son wants to come with me to the farm every day so he can play with the cows.”

In Porter County, there is little doubt that Lynadie Farm stands out. One of just a few dairy farms in the county, and one with a multitude of breeds, makes it unique in the Hoosier State. 

Dairy infrastructure looks different with the smaller number of farms, often requiring a drive to neighboring Goshen, Elkhart or Bremen for supplies. The drive is nearly an hour east, and just past the Golden Dome of the University of Notre Dame. 

“We’re a small farm, just trying to make it in a big world,” Wilson said. “There are some farms around here milking 3,000 cows, and we just want to make sure that we continue to have a market for our product.  We work with others to keep a small dairy farm alive in our community.”