Horsens Homestead Farms holds open house

Dozens of visitors took advantage of the April 24 open house at the new robotic milking facility at Horsens Homestead Farms in Cecil to witness the latest in modern farming.

Co-manager of Horsens Homstead Farms, Ryan Horsens mentioned that an opportunity opened up to finally show community residents the new facility. Horsens is a fifth-generation farmer, with the farm starting in 1879.

“We built this project 16 months ago and with COVID-19 and everything, we were always wanting to do an open house,” said Horsens. “A lot of neighbors were asking if they could see things and check it out — there was finally a good opportunity to show everybody what we did.”

The robot milkers were introduced to the farm in December 2019. According to Horsens, the farm’s new robot milkers were a main draw of residents coming to the open house.

Horsens mentioned that robots came out in the last decade, but in the last couple of years, that technology has really improved. He mentioned that Horsens Homestead Farms has included these robots in their facility because it gives the cows more comfort.

“For us, what we were drawn to was the cow comfort,” said Horsens. “Its kind of the cow’s world, which has always been what we have been striving to do.”

Visitors at the open house mentioned that the technology at the farm is a surprising sight to see.

“It is very interesting,” said Gillett resident Rich Rademann, who grew up on a farm. “It is unreal to see how modern farming has become.”

Roger Salzwedel, a Shawano County resident, was in awe at the new technology in the barn.

“It is simply amazing,” Salzwedel said.

Horsens said a cow knows when its ready to get milked when it feels it in its udder, and the cows in the barn have become accustomed to the robots and some cows try to get milked multiple times a day.

“It is a combination between them feeling it in their udder, when they are starting to get more milk, and they get a treat in the robot,” said Horsens.

In total, the farm is milking about 720 cows. With nine robot milkers in place, this equates to 60 cows per milking robot.

“We are very happy with this because we were a little nervous with our higher producing cows — that we might not get that number,” said Horsens. “But it has really worked out where we are able to have that many cows.”

In comparison to working without the robots, Horsens mentioned that the introduction of the robots is similar to what they were doing before.

“The only thing that changed for us was how we got the milk,” said Horsens. “The other 99% of the cow’s day, we try to either keep it the same or improve it.”

Horsens mentioned that a way to improve the cow’s living situation was changing how air was ventilated.

“We ended up going from naturally ventilated barns to mechanically ventilated barns,” said Horsens. “What we were worried about was cows that were further away from the opening, making sure that they have fresh air. We want to make sure that the air that the cow breathes closer to the opening is the same as further away — it is probably one of the things that I was most proud of in the project.”

Horsens believes that the public needs to care about this because of the advancement in agriculture.

“It is modern agriculture,” said Horsens. “Being able to see where things have come in the last 50 years — going from where my grandparents were to where we are now, still maintaining a family farm, but also adapting to new technologies that put the cow first.”

The main philosophy of Horsens Homstead Farms has always been putting the cow first.

“Our key things that we always talk about are comfort, consistency, and quality forage,” said Horsens. “When you get those three things working, it really makes the best environment for the cow.”

Cow comfort is a main focus of the Horsens family with the introduction of the robot milkers. Visitors at the open house noticed this as well.

“This is a very modern choice,” said Tim O’Harrow, an Oconto County resident who runs O’Harrow Family Farms. “The cows look very healthy and comfortable.”

Horsens mentioned that all 720 cows that are milked in the barn are Holstein breeds.

With the introduction of the robots, Horsens Homestead Farms has also introduced collars on the cows that track when the animals are in heat and how long the cows are eating.

“This allows us to figure out what cows are sick, or what cows need attention,” said Horsens. “Even though we are bigger, we are making sure that things aren’t falling through the cracks.”

Horsens said that the farm averages 104 lbs of milk per cow per day. The milk is sent to Agropur in Little Chute, where it is made into cheese.