Next up in our featured farms for June Dairy Month is the Brand family. Check out these pictures of their farm, cows, and family–and don’t miss the tasty dip recipe at the bottom!

Brand Farms was founded in 1972. Now the farm is run by second and third generation dairy farmers, George Brand and his son David.

Above you can see the Brand family’s farm sprawled out in the lush green fields of northeastern Indiana.

The kids pictured above are the fourth generation to live and work at the same location their great-grandfather founded.

Above, David Brand’s daughter slugs down some delicious milk while enjoying a sunny day on the farm.

When the farm began, the Brands had 40 cows on 240 acres, but now it has grown to 400 cows. Cows at Brand Dairy Farm eat food grown right there on the farm. The Brands tend to 2,600 acres of crops so their cows have a reliable food supply close at hand.

This June Dairy Month featured farm can seem a little futuristic–after all, the Jones family has robots. But the Joneses are not quite the Jetsons and those robots are all for the cows. (Don’t miss checking out this YouTube video of the farm, or the Jones family shortcake recipe at the end!)

Jones Robotic Dairy is a family-owned and operated dairy farm founded in 1942. Sammy and Pamela Jones have been married for 35 years, and work together on the farm every day. Sammy and Pam’s four children who help with the operation are the fourth generation of Jones dairy farmers. The very first Jones Dairy cow milked via robotics on February 28, 2003. At that time they were the first robotic milking system in Indiana and only the tenth in the nation. The robotic milking system allows cows to choose when they would like to be milked, any hour of the day or night, without any human assistance.

Sound impressive? Check out their website for information on farm tours to see for yourself!

The day-to-day operation of the farm is taken care of by three full time employees: Sammy, Pam, and their oldest son, Josh. Sammy and Pam’s other three children and their spouses help when they can along with Pam’s Mom. With their small workforce they are able to farm 550 acres which includes corn, soybeans, alfalfa, rye, and wheat. Most of the corn and soybeans are fed back to their animals. All of the cattle born on the farm are raised there as well, totaling around 140 milk cows and 160 other heifers and bulls from newborn calves to breeding age. The Jones family also sells breeding bulls to other dairy farms.

Agritourism keeps the Joneses busy with an average of 400-600 visitors per year. The Jones Family wants people to know that their main goals are to care for their animals, their soil and their water. They are very passionate about their jobs. Also, it is often forgotten that farmers are consumers too, just like everyone and want the same quality of products on their grocers’ shelves. Sammy and Pam are both members of the Pulaski County Farm Bureau Board, Pam is currently serving as County Woman’s Leader on that Board, Pam is also serving on the County Extension Board.

June Dairy Month rolls on and the next Indiana farm on the list is the Hoeings’ farm.

The Hoeings and their cows live in a beautiful, lush farming area near Rushville. Also check out the Hoeing family’s favorite nacho dip recipe at the end!

Hoeing Dairy Farm was established in 1947, and now, three generations later, four Hoeing brothers are running the farm founded by their grandfather. Pictured above are one of the Hoeing brothers, Ken, with his wife, Denise, and their two children, Chris and Kim.

The brothers milk 400 cows and farm 3,000 acres in Rush County.

Ken was the rookie milkman at the Indianapolis 500 in 2013—getting the prepared for his job next year to hand the 2014 winning driver a refreshing glass of milk to refuel after the race.

The Hoeing family is active in church and with the Rushville FFA chapter, who uses their farm to practice for dairy judging contests.

For our next Indiana dairy farm, we travel down to the southwest corner of the state to J & A Dairy in Evansville. (Don’t miss the recipe at the end!)

J & A Dairy, named after its owners Jim and Anita Schmitt, began in 1982 when the Schmitts began running the dairy farm Jim’s parents had owned. The Schmitts have three sons, all of whom are involved in the farm. Jeremy does the milking, mixes the feed, and manages the breeding. Jason feeds the cows silage, does feed work and does all the farm’s hauling. James Jr. has a job in town, but he helps out whenever his parents and brothers are busy.

Jim takes care of feeding, bedding and watering the animals and Anita raises the baby calves. The Schmitts have about 150 cows and they farm about 500 acres of corn, soybeans and alfalfa hay. The cows sleep on clean, dry sand and are milked twice a day. Jim and Anita’s grandchildren are around all the time and show 4-H calves. Jeremy’s three sons help him with the milking. Jim grew up on the same farm where he raised his children and now where his grandchildren grow up in the dairy farming lifestyle. Jim has seven siblings and Anita has nine, so they both know about the importance of family. Anita said the whole family works together and that faith and family are the two things that get you through life.

Another day in June Dairy Month, another great Indiana dairy farm family to meet (and don’t miss Janet Dague’s sugar cream pie recipe at the end)!

Jim Dague’s parents began dairy farming 1960. Fifty three years later, that same farm in Kewana, Indiana is now run by Jim, his wife Peggy, their son Andrew, Andrew’s wife Janet, and the Dague’s business partner Tyler Bennett.

Andrew and Janet represent the third generation to run the farm and have three school-age children who are growing up on their great-grandparents’ farm. The kids are responsible for feeding the dairy calves every evening.

The Dagues milk 170 dairy cows and farm 500 acres of corn, 500 acres of soybeans, 100 acres of wheat, and 100 acres of hay.

All calves born on the farm are raised there, the female calves grow up to become dairy cows themselves and the male calves are raised as steers for beef. The farm has five employees to help run the farm. Jim and Peggy’s daughter also helps out when she can.

The Dague kids are active in 4-H Horse and Pony, so the farm also is home to two horses and two ponies. Andrew is a volunteer fireman, Jim is a director in their dairy cooperative, Foremost Farms, Janet is a Milk Promotion Services of Indiana board member, and Peggy is a township trustee. Jim and Peggy are both active in the Grass Creek Lions Club.

Up next in the June Dairy Month line-up is Homestead Dairy, owned by the Houin family.

The original dairy was started in 1945 by Elmer and Lena Houin. They bought 216 acres and started milking 9 cows. They also had 25 hens and some hogs. Homestead Dairy, as the dairy is now known, officially began in 1979, when Floyd and Dan Houin began a partnership. Over the years, the Houins continued to expand their herd, including hiring a herdsman, Floyd’s son-in-law Joel Gawronski, in 1999. In 2003, Floyd’s son, Brian, graduated from Purdue University and came home to work on the farm. In 2004 Homestead Dairy purchased another dairy from a relative increasing their herd by about 600 cows.

In 2007 Legacy Dairy was purchased by Joel Gawronski, Brian Houin, and Matt Houin (Floyd’s nephew), with the help of Homestead Dairy. Matt graduated from Purdue University in 2009 and also came back to work on the farm, in which he took control of the cropping and maintenance. Ryan Rodgers (a nephew-in-law) joined the farm in 2012 to help with the crops and maintenance. Floyd’s wife Deb takes care of the farm’s bookkeeping. The farm is managed by six family members and two non-family managers. Homestead Dairy currently milks 3200 dairy cows.

The farm uses herd management software and radio frequency ear tags (RFID) to monitor all their cows’ health. The farmers can scan a cow’s RFID tag with a Bluetooth device and pull up all the information about that cow on a handheld computer. This system allows each cow to be given individualized care based on her needs and history. The farm is currently building a methane digester to convert cow manure into electricity. The digester is expected to go online in the summer of 2013.

Brian Houin was named the 2013 Outstanding Young Dairy Producer of the Year by the Indiana Dairy Producers association. The farm does tours several times, including school groups.

Check out their webpage and Facebook, too!

Farm motto: “We, the unwilling, led by the unqualified have been doing the unbelievable for so long with so little, we now attempt the impossible with nothing…”

It doesn’t get more authentically Hoosier than literally living on the banks of the Wabash, and that’s exactly where the Foergs and Forgeys live and farm near Logansport.

Here’s a few words from the farm family and scroll down to the bottom for Helen Forgey’s recipe for a delicious and hearty potato soup!

by Dave Forgey

I was raised on my family dairy farm and attended Purdue Winter Short Course and returned to the family farm in March 1962.

I purchased my grandfather’s share of the cows and machinery and began farming in partnership with my parents. At that time we were milking about 60 cows in a four stall side open parlor. I had learned of free stalls and developed an old loose housing barn into our first free stall barn in the summer of 1962.

My wife Helen, a dairy farmers daughter from Ohio, and I were married in 1966 and grandfather sold us his 111 acre farm in 1968. Our son, Brad, was born that year. We built our first bunker silo that summer and added a mixer wagon that we found in a Nebraska feed lot.

In 1969, an adjoining 105 acres came up for sale and we added it to the farm. Our daughter, Kim, was born in 1970. In 1973, we added space to a very small home which had been large enough for my grandparents but not for our growing family. By 1976, our herd had grown to 120 cows and we built a double six herringbone milking parlor (there are six stalls on each side of a lower pit area, the farmer stands in the pit and can milk 12 cows at a time) and added a second free stall barn and a second bunker silo for haylage.

In 1979, an additional 130 adjoining acres was for sale and we added it to our operation. My father also decided to retire that year and we purchased his half of the cows and machinery but not his land. We also found it necessary to add an employee to our farm so we weren’t doing all the milking every day. In 1981, we added an additional 35 acres to our farm. All that growth in 19 years had put a big financial burden on our backs.

In 1986, our son was leaving for Purdue which took away a lot of very good labor and in 1988 our daughter followed so we added a second employee. In 1991, Scott Foerg came to us right out of high school with a non-farm background and filled that second employee position.

That spring I attended a meeting in Illinois and learned about rotational grazing. Since our land was all adjoining and we grew high quality grass-legumes forages we decided to attempt the grazing concept for our dairy.

Our daughter Kim returned to the farm from Purdue, but within a year a husband drew her away again. It soon became just Helen, Scott and I doing all the work and things were getting simpler to manage. By 1993 we had converted the entire farm to pasture and hay and in 1995 Scott married Darla to start his family.

Financial burdens began melting away with our lower cost grazing system. We continued to grow our herd with our own replacements and began using totally New Zealand Friesian genetics on our Holstein herd.

By 1996, it was evident our children weren’t returning to the farm and Scott wanted to begin owning something. We sold him 30 pregnant heifers to allow him to begin building a herd of his own and we leased them back. In 1999 we allowed him to take more management in the operation and he became a sharemilker getting a percentage of the gross milk sales and paying a portion of the expenses. This allowed Helen and I to operate the farm with fewer milking obligations after nearly 40 years of milking cows. Scott and Darla’s daughter Allison was born in 2000.

In 2005, we made the decision to make Scott a full partner in the operation and operate as a landlord -tenant farm . Helen and my goal was to continue to work on the farm but allow Scott full management of the farm. That same year a nearby 150 acre farm came up for sale. Through some financial planning we were able to assist Scott so he could purchase that farm. It became a great place to raise our young stock and allowed us to continue to grow our milking herd. In 2008 we replaced our old milking parlor with a new swing 36 parlor to allow for rapid milking. This spring we will freshen over 300 cows and continue to operate as a rotational grazing dairy with pasture being our major feed for the herd. Helen and I are both still involved in the farm but we also spend a lot of time with outside interests away from the farm. Scott has two full time employees.

The next farm on the list for 30 Dairies in 30 Days is the Phares Dairy Farm in Albion.

Steve Phares began dairy farming in 1973 after purchasing the farm from his grandfather. In 1997, Steve’s son, Clint, joined the operation. The father-son double act now milk 110 Holstein cows, about three-quarters of the herd are registered Holsteins.

Steve and Clint use rotational grazing in the warmer months, a system of moving cows around on grass pastures so their grazing doesn’t damage the grass. Cows get supplemental haylage (which is hay that has been chopped up and fermented) and grain during the summer months. In the cold winters of northern Indiana, the cows stay cozy in a free stall barn, where they can lay down, move around, eat, drink and socialize as they choose. In the winter, cows are feed a “total mixed ration” or TMR, which is like cow version of trail mix, with lots of different grasses, grains, and minerals mixed together.

Steve’s grandfather bought the Phares Farm in 1927, making Clint a fourth generation dairy farmer. Steve “share milked” (which means sharing in the farm’s profits and losses, basically as a stakeholder) for three years before buying the farm.

The whole family is active in their church leadership and Clint’s wife Sara is involved in the music. Steve is a director in the Foremost Farms dairy cooperative. Clint serves on the county extension board. Steve and his wife Paula enjoy travelling. Clint and Sara do triathlons.

The Phares family’s farm motto is, “It is not work if you enjoy what you do, but a little play is good for you, too.”

Every cow on the farm feels this fun-loving attitude in the family’s passion for dairy farming.

The next farm to be featured for June Dairy Month is the Schwoeppe family’s farm. Sam Schwoeppe (IndyMilkMaid) is something of an Instagram whiz, so if you are on IG make sure to follow her and catch some amazing pictures of this beautiful farm. (And check out the Schwoeppe boys’ weightlifting refuel drink at the end and a special guest recipe!)

Schwoeppe Dairy Farm is truly a family affair, with three generations milking and taking care of their cows.

Darren and Sam Schwoeppe are the fourth generation of dairy farmers to live and work on this picturesque farm in southern Indiana.

Darren’s mom helps with the milking and Darren and Sam’s two boys are also continuing the tradition of growing up and working on the farm.

The Schwoeppes milk about 93 dairy cows—mostly the cow-spotted Holsteins but they also have two Brown Swiss.

The family raises 150 acres of hay to help feed their cows.

The family sells some of their female calves to other dairy farmers—the Schwoeppes’ heifers are in demand because their cows tend to live very long lives.

The family is involved in 4-H (Sam has been a 4-H club leader for 20 years!), Farm Bureau, Southwest Indiana Holstein Club, and the Wrestling Booster Club (the Schwoeppe boys were both in high school wrestling).

You can check out Sam’s Instagram, full of cow and farm photos, by following IndyMilkMaid.

The Schwoeppes were also involved in the 75th anniversary of hometown processor Prairie Farms. One of the anniversary celebrations was celebrated near Prairie Farms’ southern Indiana processing plant in Holland, Ind., near Huntingburg. Sam snapped this next photo of kids enjoying meeting a cow at the anniversary celebrations.

This next recipe is one Sam Schwoeppe found at The Pinke Post. Check out the original here.

Today it’s time to meet the Stockwell dairy farm family–keep reading to find out about their farm and don’t forget to check out Lisa Stockwell’s recipe at the end!

Stockwell Farms Inc. is a third generation dairy farm located outside Hudson, Indiana. The farm was started by Lynn Stockwell in 1960 and dairy farming has become a family tradition. The farm has seen many changes over the years to keep up with a growing family and a growing world population. The biggest change the farm has seen was an expansion in 2009 to allow the milking herd to grow from 200 to 450. This included the building of two new free stall barns, renovation of the existing barn and parlor, retention pit, and two lagoons to assist in manure management.

Daily routines at the farm change with each season but herd health and care are always a top priority. Some of the technologies used to ensure cow comfort were built right into the barn plans. This is seen with the adjustable curtains on the barn walls and open roof for proper ventilation and quality air control. On a hot and sunny day the cows spend their time under fans in the barn that is an average of ten degrees cooler than outside. In the reverse season, those cold wintery, days the cows find an escape from the wind and snow. The barn is cleaned twice a day, once with each milking, and the cows receive fresh sand bedding once a week. A dairy nutritionist creates diets specific for each stage of life for the cows and they get two freshly mixed meals a day. Cows also have a foot bath they walk through after milking to prevent diseases and twice a month they can get their feet trimmed. Calf care is still in the hands of Lynn and his wife Karen as they come to do chores twice a day. They enjoy caring for the newborn calves from birth to eight to nine weeks when they are moved to different barns to be raised further. All the animals get to stay and be raised at one of the three farms locations all within a mile of each other.

The farm is also comprised of 1,100 acres of corn, soybeans, alfalfa, wheat, sorghum and rye, and triticale. Most of the crops from this land are used to feed the animals on the farm.

The farm is currently run by Lynn’s son and grandson, Kevin and Kyle Stockwell. Family plays a big part in the labor and management of the farm. Kevin’s wife of 27 years, Lisa, is the book keeper and bill payer. Kevin and Lisa’s son Kyle went to Michigan State for a dairy management degree before returning to help run the farm. Kyle is adding to the family this fall, with his fiancée Ashley who works in finance. Kevin and Lisa’s daughter Laura is a recent Purdue University graduate and is working for John Deere in Iowa but still has an interest in the family business. Many of the employees at Stockwell Farms have become part of the family over the years. There are six milkers who rotate shifts in the parlor. Also there are three additional full time employees who help with feeding, herd health, breeding, and field work. Many don’t understand why someone would want to milk cows every day. For the Stockwell family, it is in their passion and goal to continue to produce healthy and nutritious milk from our family to yours for years to come.