Generational success

WAUPACA, Wis. — When Ron Brooks was in college, he planned to become a veterinarian. However, a phone call from his dad the day after he was accepted to vet school changed the course of his future.

Brooks’ uncle was stepping away from the farm due to health reasons, and Brooks’ father wanted to know if his son was interested in coming back to the farm. Brooks said yes to the opportunity.

Farming with his parents, Dodge and Leah, Brooks soon found his calling as the fifth generation at Brooks Farms near Waupaca.

“I did not think I was going to be a farmer,” Brooks said. “But, when I was 22, we started a succession plan.”

In 2003, Brooks became the sole proprietor of the operation when his dad retired and offered the farm to him at a discounted sale. Cow numbers were between 180-200, and the family was farming 650 acres at the time. His parents remained a fixture at the operation, continuing to lend wisdom.

Today, Brooks farms with two of his daughters, Zoey Nelson and Sydney Howard. The family milks 700 cows and farms about 1,300 acres. Brooks also shares the farm with his wife, Donna, and 11 grandchildren, which includes Nelson’s 2-year-old and an infant.

Conservation has longtime been at the heart of this dairyman’s efforts. As a result, Brooks was one of four farmers named a 2025 Wisconsin Master Agriculturist.

“My dedication to stewardship and my land ethic has a lot to do with it,” Brooks said. “I stand for what I stand on. Just like you can’t own water, I don’t think anyone really owns land. We’re just a steward of the land.”

Brooks has been doing no-till for nearly 30 years. He also plants cover crops, experimenting with a variety of mixes. Buffer strips, pollinator habitats, prairie restoration and more are also conservation initiatives Brooks has implemented on the farm.

“At a minimum, we want living roots in the soil 350 days of the year,” he said.

An invisible effort, but one that has had a lot of positive impact, is not allowing semis in their fields.

“Compaction is our No. 1 enemy,” Brooks said. “We’re always cognizant of compaction. That’s a problem that takes years to get away from.”

Brooks said they are nudging 250-300 bushels of corn across the board. Cost savings from reduced fuel usage and manpower are other benefits to the farm, along with runoff prevention and soil retention. Walla Walla Creek is the tributary that Brooks Farms drains into, and Brooks said they are constantly monitoring this body of water.

“After a rain event, we check drain tiles and the road intersection to see if the water is clean, and it always is,” he said.

The farm was founded in 1855 by Luther West, and many cows in the current herd trace back to West’s first three Holsteins.

The sixth generation is now taking over at Brooks Farms and continuing to build on the dairy’s 170-year history. Since returning in 2015 following her reign as Alice in Dairyland, Nelson gained a 5% increase in equity in the farm each year. Now, she and her dad each own 50% of the farm.

“I am truly the luckiest business owner and dairy farmer in the world,” Brooks said. “I had my grandpa, dad and uncle to mentor me, and now Zoey has her dad and grandpa to mentor her. It’s fortunate for us to have that and nice to bounce ideas off each other.”

Nelson agreed.

“We have the common goal of keeping the farm going and keeping it in the family,” she said.

Before his daughters could return to the farm, they were required to work off the farm.

Howard currently works remotely as the U.S. marketing manager for smaXtec. She is also the assistant herd manager at Brooks Farms.

“I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to learn and grow on the farm while simultaneously having a career on the side,” Howard said. “Dad pushed us out the door to gain experience and not be siloed into agriculture. We were able to explore other areas before making a concrete decision.”

As an only child and the father of four daughters, Brooks said he was uncertain about the farm’s future.

“My dad and I didn’t think any of the girls would be coming back,” he said. “That’s part of the reason why we never really recapitalized and had outdated facilities. I was probably looking at more of an exit plan for dairying.”

However, a heart-to-heart conversation with Nelson while she was still Alice revived future plans for the dairy. An expansion in 2017 brought a new milking parlor and freestall barn that Brooks and Nelson designed from the ground up. Cows are milked three times a day in a Germania rapid-exit, double-16 herringbone parlor and average 107 pounds of energy-corrected milk per cow per day.

“If you look at where we are with production today, these are numbers we never imagined,” Brooks said. “It’s all Zoey. Sydney is a big part of the repro. I’m virtually hands off on the dairy herd.”

Brooks is moving to the background to allow the next generation to manage the dairy.

“The way a business runs, there are engines and there are anchors,” he said. “The older generation becomes the anchor because you have this knowledge and mentoring, and the younger generation is the engine that drives the place.”

Brooks said each generation has been good about accepting change and letting the generation beneath them try new things without pointing fingers if something does not work as planned.

Each generation provides a unique pillar at the farm, Nelson said, which has helped ensure its longevity.

“When I look at the three generations farming together, we’re so differentiated,” she said. “Grandpa’s pillar is his financial IQ and tremendous business sense. My dad’s is his conservation, stewardship and agronomy IQ. Cows are my passion, and people.”

The three-prong approach has served the farm well, with each generation bringing something to the table.

“Zoey has a tremendous ability to lead people,” Brooks said. “So does Sydney. Their understanding of the dairy and animal side of it is another strength, and that’s where we overlap.”

As the next generation, Nelson said there is a lot of pressure to continually improve.

“It’s one thing to keep the farm going, but you have to take it to the next level to set it up for the next generation,” she said. “We have the privilege of coming into it with Dad’s generation prepping it for us. We’ve put the cows in a place where they can thrive and succeed, and now we want to keep improving the herd.”

Nelson and her sister are embracing what lies ahead.

“We have a special opportunity here with the legacy and family tradition that has been built for over a century,” Howard said. “It’s extremely rare.”