October 3, 2007 (Jackson, Michigan) – Today we kicked off the first day of farm tours for the fall Showcase event! Almost everyone arrived last night in Detroit last night in time for the Welcome Reception. Cees Hartmans, CEO, had the pleasure of welcoming almost 330 guests representing 20 different countries!
The 6 tour buses left bright and early this morning as we headed off to our first stop, VanderMade Dairy.

Impressive AltaALLY group at VanderMade

Lambert VanderMade in Performance Pen

The VanderMade family began farming in the US in 1999 after relocating from the Netherlands. Currently they milk about 1350 cows in a double 24 herringbone parlor, 3 times/day. The VanderMade family works closely with Alta District Sales Manager, Dan Lyons, to select bulls primarily for heath traits, specifically Productive Life, DPR and Somatic Cell Score. Tour guests had the opportunity to chat with Lambert VanderMade, main herd manager, about the various aspects of the farm and the construction of the new freestall barn. They also visited the sound group of cattle on display in the Performance Pen where the highlights included a great group of 3 AltaALLY daughters and an AltaTABOO daughter with a tremendous udder.

The next stop was New Flevo Dairy of Adrian, Michigan. New Flevo Dairy is owned and operated by the Schot Family who began farming in the US in the fall of 1998 after immigrating from the Netherlands. The Schot’s are currently milking about 1850 cows with an expansion to 2000 cows on the horizon, as soon as the new freestall barn is completed. The Schot’s have purchased from Alta since they began farming the US, but have been an Alta Advantage® herd since 2002. Arno Schot notes that they partnered with Alta because “the company has the same goals we have and the people are outstanding.”

2nd Lactation AltaTABOO daughters

Alta Advantage Consultant David Hill introducing
the Performance Pen at New Flevo Dairy

The tour guests were greeted by an impressive display of daughters in the Performance Pen including a 2nd lactation AltaBAXTER daughter, a superb AltaJAYZ daughter and a group of 3 great uddered, 2nd lactation AltaTABOO daughters.
The bus made its final stop of the day at Hoffland Dairy, home of the VanderHoff family. The VanderHoff’s are also in the middle of construction on a new freestall barn that will have the capacity to hold 450 more cows, bringing the total milking herd to approximately 1000.

The new barn will have a very impressive flush system, allowing the VanderHoff’s to recycle 90% of their sand bedding and eliminate the use of a scrapping system.
The VandeHoff family has been involved with Alta for quite some time, beginning when they milked cows in the Netherlands and worked with AltaEurope, to their start in the US dairy industry in 1998. Tour guests were very impressed by the quality of daughters in the Performance Pen where highlights included two tremendously uddered AltaBOSS daughters, a solid 2nd lactation AltaRUFFIAN daughter and 2 very impressive daughters out of the exciting up and coming bull, AltaMOSAIC.

Barn Construction at Hoffland Dairy

AltaMOSAIC daughter (new Alta bull)

The VanderHoff family hosted a “Mexican Fiesta” dinner for all the tour guests to enjoy before heading to the hotel in Jackson for the night.
The caliber of the first 3 dairies was very high and certainly sets the stage for what is quickly shaping up to be a very exciting tour!