October 4, 2007 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) – Today was an exceptional day for the Showcase Tour group! We started off at Green Meadow Farms in Elsie, MI. Green Meadow has been operational since 1917 when Merle H. Green bought his first registered Holstein. Since that time, the Green’s have always registered their cattle and are currently milking 3500 cows 3 times/day. The level of genetics are very impressive in the Green Meadow herd as they consistently breed for cows that will last longer, breed back and excel in health traits.

CEO Cees Hartmans with 3rd lactation
AltaWILDMAN daughter

Velmar Green, Green Meadow owner, poses
with Doug Blair, former Alta CEO
and the AltaWILDMAN daughter

They also have an elaborate flush program for their elite genetic performers. The main highlight at the farm was the 3rd lactation Wildman daughter who looked phenomenal that day. She certainly had her 60 minutes of fame as several tour guests stopped and posed for pictures with her! The Green’s put together a solid Performance Pen featuring great daughters of AltaMERCHANT, AltaFINLEY and exciting prospect bull, AltaBUFFALO.

The next stop on the tour was Rich-Ro Schneider Farm of St. John’s, MI. Schneider Farm is owned by Chuck and Glen Feldpausch who began farming in the 1960’s with their father Richard. Currently they are milking 1250 cows in a Double 25 parallel parlor. Schneider Farm has undergone many expansions in the past several months and one of the highlights on the tour was their newly remodeled parallel parlor.

Tour guests inspect newly renovated
parlor at Rich-Ro Schneider Farm

Impressive AltaARMSTEAD group at Schneider Farms

The original problem was that cows generally didn’t have enough stall space in the parlor so the solution was to expand, making the parlor a parallel design and giving cows more room. This reduced pit width by 2 feet which makes it a bit more challenging for the milker’s to move around in it, but the cows are comfortable and production has improved. The Performance Pen featured a pair of AltaARMSTEAD daughters with tremendous udders and a very well balanced AltaHATLEY daughter, among a solid lineup of cows.

The final stop off the day was at Steenblik Dairy in Pewamo, MI. The Steenblik family was one of the earliest first-generation families to settle in Michigan. The dairy has evolved significantly since its 80-cow beginning, currently milking 2000 cows in a Double 25 parallel parlor. In addition to cow management, Steenblik Dairy also grows all of their own roughage and as much dry corn during the season as possible. They farm 3200 acres of land, growing hay, corn and wheat. Albert Steenblik is very proud of his involvement with the Alta Advantage® program as he has seen tremendous improvement in his cows since first came on board with the program.

Great uddered group of AltaZORO
daughters at Steenblik Dairy

Albert Steenblik answers questions
about his dairy from tour guests

The Performance Pen highlighted some great daughters of AltaZORO, AltaWILDMAN and AltaARMSTEAD, among others.

The tour guests were treated to a great dinner at Steenblik Dairy before boarding the buses and heading for the ferry terminal to enjoy a 2-hour voyage across Lake Michigan. The water was calm and it was a very neat experience for those guests who’d never experienced a ferry ride before. Following the ferry, the group headed to our current location in Milwaukee.