Central Plains Dairy Expo - Virtual Tour

Take virtual tour of two dairies

New this year are two virtual dairy tours. You’ll see the farms, barns and cows and hear from the owners and operators. Both tours are held the first thing each morning of the Trade Show so you’ll have lots of opportunity to ask questions and to talk to the producers throughout the day.

Wednesday, March 28 – 8 a.m. (Meeting Rooms 8-10)

Blue Mound Dairy, Luverne, Minn. – Rick Van Santen family. Sponsored by Pioneer. Blue Mound Dairy has received six consecutive Milk Quality Awards and has a bulk tank SCC average of 112,000 for their 1,000-cow herd. It also has received national awards for herd reproductive performance. The Van Santen family maintains a rolling herd average of 28,500 pounds with nearly all home-grown forages. Since they began using several new forage production practices, their haylage and corn silage digestibility is at an all-time high.

Thursday, March 29 – 8 a.m. (Meeting Rooms 8-10)

Prairieland Dairy, Firth, Neb. – Dan Rice. Sponsored by Westway Feeds. Prairieland Dairy was started in 1998 when Dan Rice and his family moved their dairy from Pennsylvania to Nebraska and joined Cliff and Dave Obbink on their fourth generation family farm. In 2000, Prairieland moved into a new 700 cow facility, and in 2005 they invited two other like-minded dairy farm families to join them in their business. As a result, four family farms have come together to dairy on one farm. The total number of families directly involved is eight. They have created three distinct companies to market around the cow, which produces milk, meat and manure. Prairieland Dairy, the mother company houses, milks and cares for the cows. Prairieland Gold, a compost company, markets all the solid manure from the dairy, along with source-separated organics from neighboring communities. Prairieland Foods processes and markets milk and meat products. By joining together, Prairieland Dairy partners have been able to accomplish far more than any one family could do separately. Through the partnership they are providing opportunities for the next generation to work in their area of passion to sustain the family farm.

Dan Rice and his family at their dairy.