Showcasing a seventh-generation dairy

MANITOWOC, Wis. — For more than 175 years, the Hochkammer family has dairy farmed in Manitowoc County. Ancestors of German descent set down roots in 1849, and today, three generations work side by side on the seventh-generation operation.

On June 14, Hochkammer Dairy Farm LLC will host Manitowoc County Breakfast on the Farm for the second time in its history.
The farm is owned by Tom and Anne Hochkammer; their son and daughter-in-law, Casey and Sara Hochkammer; and Cory and Kim Krueger. The Hochkammers and Kruegers milk 260 cows and farm 650 acres near Manitowoc.

“It’s nice to show people what we do,” Tom said. “We’re all involved in different aspects of the community, and now, people can see what we do in ‘real life.’”

Tom is in his 50th year serving in the Newton Fire Department and his 20th year serving as chief. Krueger is also a volunteer firefighter, serving in the Silver Creek department for 22 years, including 10 years as chief. Casey helps Tom do paperwork for the fire department and has also been a part of Newton Youth Sports — a local community baseball and softball program — for 20 years and currently serves as president.

Tom became a partner with his parents, William and Jeanette, in 1977. He married Anne in 1984, and the couple became sole owners of the farm in 1994. In 2003, Casey started down the path to co-ownership. Krueger began working on the farm in 2004 and became a partner in 2017.

Casey manages cows while Krueger manages crops. Krueger also does the feeding. Tom milks in the mornings and, if needed, in the afternoon, and he handles the farm’s books. Anne feeds calves and helps finish up in the parlor. Additionally, the farm has one full-time and one part-time milker. Several retired neighbors help with crops.

Casey and Sara have five children — Alivia, Megan, Gary, Dein and Beth — many of whom help on the farm. The Kruegers have two children — Emma and Brody. Casey’s brother, Tyler, and his wife, Nicole, also live on the homestead.

“The kids are excited to show off the farm,” Casey said.

Ham and cheese omelets and cheese quesadillas headline this breakfast that will be held from 8 a.m. to noon. The event will feature self-guided farm tours with people stationed at various areas throughout the farm. A self-propelled chopper and other large machinery will be on display. Additional highlights include children’s activities and a chance for a photo with a calf as well as live music and the crowning of the new Miss Farm Bureau and the Manitowoc County Dairy Princess.

When the Hochkammers hosted the breakfast in 2010, attendance reached 4,300. This year’s breakfast is expected to draw 5,200 people to the farm.

“It’s nice seeing a lot of people here as well as the businesses we work with come out and volunteer to help,” Tom said. “The fire department is going to help with parking. FFA kids and local baseball teams are also volunteering.”

Hochkammer Dairy ships its milk to Sargento Cheese, which will be contributing to the event as well.

Event goers will see a variety of breeds that  are milked twice a day in a double-12 parallel parlor. The primary breeds are Holstein and Jersey, which also share the barn with Brown Swiss, Ayrshires, Milking Shorthorns, black and white and red and white Linebacks, Dutch Belteds, Normandes and Brahmans.

The farm suffered three fires over the years, the most recent occurring July 7, 1999, which destroyed the 86-cow tiestall barn. The entire milking herd had to be shipped after inhaling significant amounts of smoke. The family retained their heifers and bought springing heifers and dry cows to rebuild the herd. A milking parlor was built that year, with the first milking occurring Oct. 28 with 28 cows. By Christmas, the family was milking 150 cows.

“That’s part of the reason we went to Jerseys,” Tom said. “We built back on the same foundation, which had smaller stalls that fit Jerseys well.”

Most of the freestall barn was salvaged and houses Holsteins and other larger breeds. However, the short, narrow stalls and short alleyways in this 1981 freestall barn prompted the Hochkammers to breed for a smaller Holstein.

“We may get a little less milk from some of our Holsteins because they’re smaller, but they stay around longer,” Casey said.

The milking herd rests on mattresses bedded with a mix of paper sawdust and straw, while heifers and dry cows reside on bedded packs.

Calves on milk are housed in two barns as well as outdoor hutches in the summer. At 10 months old, heifers move across the road and work their way down the barns from east to west. Heifers in breeding pens wear ankle monitors to aid with heat detection. When heifers are seven months pregnant, they move to the pre-fresh and dry cow barn.

At the last breakfast, the family was milking 230 cows.

“We’ve learned how to keep cows comfortable at our current numbers,” Casey said. “We grew in herd size and youngstock, allowing us to sell dairy replacements.”

To ensure cow comfort, Casey said stalls are well-bedded; cows see the hoof trimmer frequently, and the sick pen is utilized for any cow exhibiting an injury.

“We watch for the little bump on a cow and take time to put cows in that pen every milking,” Casey said. “For example, if a cow has swelling in a knee, we’ll put her in there for a week and not make her try and fight to get better in a big group. We save a lot of cows that way.”

The dairy grows corn, alfalfa, wheat, soybeans and canning crops for Lakeside Foods, including peas, snap beans and beets. These farmers demonstrate their commitment to the land through cover cropping, no till practices and the use of waterways.

For more than 15 years, the dairy has implemented cover crops and plants over 100 acres per year. They typically grow a cover crop mix after wheat that consists of peas and oats harvested in the fall and winter rye harvested in the spring as feed for animals.

“We were hauling bed pack manure on those fields before we could go on other fields,” Krueger said. “The soil structure stays there. Cover crops offer benefits all around.”

The farm has been doing no till for 10 years and no tills corn into alfalfa stands. If they do not do big manure applications on rye, they no till that as well.

“We’ve done some no till corn after soybeans, and that was our best corn last year,” Krueger said.

The field in winter rye contains two waterways, which will be a tour stop at the breakfast.

As the Hochkammer family works its way to 200 years of dairy farming, they said they look forward to sharing their passion for the industry with everyone who visits June 14.