Growing efficiently

STURGEON BAY, Wis. — A desire to farm has burned inside Tyler Baudhuin since he was a boy. The fourth-generation farmer learned early that no other occupation besides dairy farming would satisfy his career aspirations.

“I tried working off the farm and hated every minute of it,” Baudhuin said. “I just couldn’t see myself stuck between four block walls all day, punching a clock.”

Baudhuin and his family milk 340 cows and farm about 900 acres at Baudhuin Farms LLC near Sturgeon Bay. Baudhuin owns the farm in a 50/50 partnership with his parents, Dave and Sue.

Since becoming involved in the operation, Baudhuin’s goal has been to grow his family’s farm efficiently and profitably. As such, the 35-year-old was recently named the 2026 Wisconsin Outstanding Young Farmer.

“I was beyond surprised when my name was called,” Baudhuin said. “It was more than an honor.”

Baudhuin has plans for the future as he continues to modernize and expand the farm that has been in his family for nearly 80 years.

The Baudhuins built a new facility in 2024 that has pushed milk production to new levels and improved efficiency throughout the dairy. A 6-row, tunnel-ventilated freestall barn and double-10 parallel parlor were at the heart of the expansion.

“We’re doing all this with the same amount of labor that we had when milking 180 cows in a tiestall barn,” Baudhuin said. “We’re doing twice as much in the same amount of time, if not less time.”

The Baudhuins have two full-time employees and a part-time high school student who helps with milking. Baudhuin’s brother, Nick, also works on the farm part time. Baudhuin’s dad has an off-farm job as well, leaving Baudhuin to handle the day-to-day management.

“Running a business is harder than it looks,” Baudhuin said. “You really have to put your head down and just go. There is no room for error anymore in this industry. You have to be good, you have to be smart, and you have to be able to think quickly.”

Baudhuin bought his first piece of farmland — a 46-acre plot — in 2014.

“That was my contribution, and I worked my way up,” he said. “The farm has never been purchased (by the next generation). My great-grandpa gave it to my grandpa; and my grandpa gave it to my dad. We’ve all added bits and pieces. My grandpa bought some land; my dad bought some land.”

Baudhuin’s great-grandfather purchased the farm, which was in foreclosure, in the 1940s from Sturgeon Bay State Bank.

“(My great-grandfather) owned a bar in Forestville, and one day he caught my grandpa at 8 years old stealing a pack of cigarettes out of the vending machine and thought it was time for a life change,” Baudhuin said.

Baudhuin’s dad is the one who focused on genetics and switched to A.I. breeding. As Baudhuin’s involvement on the farm increased, so did the size of the family’s herd. They gradually grew from 40 cows to 80 cows and built their first freestall barn in 2014. They continued to milk in the tiestall barn for the next 10 years as they grew to 180 cows.

“The tiestall barn was labor intensive,” Baudhuin said. “The new facilities gave everyone a little more quality of life. I have four kids and want to spend time with them. It lets me be a dad, which is my favorite part.”

In their new facility, the Baudhuins have eliminated problems like swollen hocks and increased milk production by nearly 10 pounds per cow.

“There were a lot of things in the old barn that were really keeping us from hitting our true potential,” Baudhuin said. “We’re still climbing in production; it’s been a process.”

Changing nutritionists and tweaking the ration also factored into the jump in milk.

“We always thought it was mostly facility, but some of it was just the way we were feeding,” Baudhuin said.

From the ventilation system to sand bedding, cow comfort was a priority when building the new barn.

“In the summer when it’s hot, the cows do so well in there,” Baudhuin said. “It was a night and day difference from the old barn. And sand is great for cows. I like the grit of sand; there’s no slipping or falling. Someday, I would like to put in a separator to reclaim at least 80%.”

Both the barn and parlor were built for future growth.

“We could easily take the south wall off the barn and add another half if we choose to,” Baudhuin said. “I didn’t want to be that guy who built something a certain way and then regrets it. Everything here was built with the future in mind.”

Cows are milked twice a day, but Baudhuin is considering switching to three-times-a-day milking this summer. The parlor is operating at 50% capacity, and Baudhuin would like to build another barn in the next couple of years to increase parlor efficiency to 100%.

“The plan is to grow in phases and keep growing internally without having to buy a lot of cows,” he said. “Growth has always been on the back of my mind, but I want to do it in an efficient manner. I want to do what’s best and what’s right for our family and our employees while also thinking about what’s best for the next generation.”

Given the farm’s location, Baudhuin has taken new steps to be conservation-minded when working the land.

“We’re surrounded by water on three sides, so we try to do as much as we can to do our part here in Door County,” he said.

For example, Baudhuin plants cover crops to prevent soil runoff and continues to increase the number of covers he plants each year. He has also worked with the soil and water department to put in waterways that carry away surplus water.

“We were finding out that going in with a chisel plow and ripping stuff up wasn’t always the answer,” Baudhuin said. “Now, we do more in one pass. We bought a speed disc a couple of years ago, and it’s great.”

Instead of working their fields twice in spring, Baudhuin said they can work a wheat stubble field with one pass and then plant corn.

“It’s really saving us a lot of time as far as tillage goes,” he said. “We use less fuel now than we did when we milked 80 cows running all these acres.”

As he plans for the future, Baudhuin said he is content with the present, living the life he always envisioned.

“I’ve been so driven in this ever since I was a kid,” he said. “It’s all that really ever mattered to me. I couldn’t see myself being anywhere else.”