On the plains of western Kansas, where more than 70,000 cows are milked daily, attracting a processing plant to this region of the state is a priority for Gov. Sam Brownback.
“A cheese factory would be a powerful tool for long-term economic growth in rural Kansas,” said Brownback spokeswoman Sherriene Jones-Sontag. “It is a priority. It would mean good jobs and more revenue for decades.”
It is a change from 20 years ago, when the first large-scale dairy was built in Hamilton County and future development of the fledgling industry was just dreams.
These days, however, a few dozen industrial-strength dairies dot Kansas where crops like wheat and corn once grew — operations that stretch across a mile section.
Now as Brownback and his Cabinet search ways to grow the rural countryside, attracting a viable industry like a milk-processing plant to southwest Kansas has become one of their top focuses.
Already things are happening. Grant County Economic Development Director Leslie Mangels said a foreign investor is interested in building a dry milk-processing plant in the U.S. The dried milk would be used in his cheese factories in Europe.
Ulysses is in the running with Michigan and South Dakota for the 60-employee plant, she said. Consultants visited Ulysses two weeks ago. Mangels said she could learn the final decision any day.
The same investor looked at Kansas in 2004, but at that time, the state didn’t have enough milk production, Mangels said.
“With the milk supply and the progressive nature of Grant County, we are prime for some kind” of facility, Mangels said, noting state officials with the Kansas Department of Agriculture and Kansas Department of Commerce have been instrumental in the process. “We’re ready, we’re here, we have the infrastructure.”
]]>Stops were made at Sandhill Farms near Haviland and Woolfolk Ranch at Protection. Kevin and Vera Schultz, owners of Sandhill Farms, gave the group an inside look into their breeding program, which consists of Polled Hereford genetics. Kent and Tyler Woolfolk explained how they manage salt cedar trees on their pastures to improve grazing.
Ted Boersma, co-owner of Forget-Me-Not Dairy near Cimarron, told the group during a tour of the milking parlor the facility produces 12 to 13 truckloads of milk per day. The class visited Empire Calf Ranch LLC, near Satanta, which feeds all its calves by hand for up to 90 days using 24,000 bottles per day. The importance of managing risk in the cattle feeding business was highlighted during a stop at Beefland Feedyard near Garden City.
The group also participated in a Beef Quality Assurance injection site demonstration and visited the National Beef Packing Plant in Dodge City.
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]]>TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas needs to invest hundreds of millions of dollars more in its beef, dairy and pork industries in order to give the state a larger share of U.S. animal agriculture production, Gov. Sam Brownback said.
“I just want to see us put that on steroids and grow it,” Brownback said Wednesday during an economic development summit in Garden City.
Kansas Governor, Sam Brownback
Brownback said the recent expansion of dairy farms in western Kansas could be replicated by the redevelopment of poultry production in the state.
“We can grow the animal agriculture industry in this state,” Brownback said. “We can compete against anybody in the world with what we do.”
But he said the state had to take a firm position on preservation of the Ogallala Aquifer, a key underground source for water in western Kansas.
“It’s probably the main issue we have facing animal agriculture.”
Dale Rodman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, said the state’s livestock producers had to organize around marketing opportunities to supply more meat to countries with a rising standard of living.
“Government can’t do it all,” he said.
]]>Gov. Sam Brownback held an economic summit in Manhattan, Kan., on June 9 to highlight the importance of the animal health sector to Kansas and the surrounding region. The animal health corridor, which runs from Columbia, Mo., to Manhattan, Kan., is quickly becoming a global center for the animal health industry.
Brownback pointed to the success Kansas has experienced in attracting large dairy farms to southwest Kansas and said this success could be duplicated with the animal health industry.
“I think we have the same potential with animal health,” Brownback said. “We have a global industry that is already located here and the chance for us to go to Australia, South Africa, and European-based companies and say if you re-locate here you can expand your business footprint. The best global assets are based right here in Kansas.”
At the heart of the expansion of the animal health industry in Kansas is the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility that is being constructed in Manhattan, Kan.
“I think we still don’t grasp what NBAF will do for this region,” said Ernst Heinen, vice president of research and development for Bayer Animal Health.
Read the complete story HIGH PLAINS JOURNAL
]]>“A strong Kansas dairy industry is key to helping us reach our goals of increasing personal income, creating private sector jobs and strengthening our rural communities as well as growing overall agricultural production in our state,” said Governor Brownback. “I’m delighted by the strength and vitality of dairy farms in Kansas, and I’m proud to mark June 2011 as Kansas Dairy Month.”
Governor Sam Brownback presenting a dairy month proclamation to Kansas Livestock Association Dairy Committee Chairman and Royal Farms Dairy partner Kyle Averhoff.
Governor Brownback presented the Dairy Month proclamation to dairy industry representatives at a celebration at Royal Farms Dairy outside of Garden City Thursday.
“As dairy producers, we’re proud of the contributions we make to the Kansas economy and our part in delivering consumers wholesome, healthy, abundant supplies of milk products,” said Kansas Livestock Association Dairy Committee Chairman Kyle Averhoff, a partner in Royal Farms Dairy.
In addition to supporting the current dairy industry, Governor Brownback and Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman spoke about the opportunities for dairy industry expansion in Kansas.
“Kansas has a reputation as an agriculture-friendly state where the dairy industry can grow and prosper,” said Governor Brownback. “It’s an industry we support and want to expand as we look towards the future.”
“We are committed to encouraging the growth and expansion of diaries and supporting industries in Kansas,” said Secretary Rodman. “We have the feed and land resources as well as a state government committed to supporting the hard work of dairy farmers instead of regulating them out of business.”
The dairy industry is committed to animal welfare and environmental stewardship. Dairy farmers take care of their cows by providing a nutritious diet, good medical care and healthy living conditions. Dairy farmers also care for their environment they live and work in. For example, at Royal Farms Dairy, water is reused numerous times for cleaning and cooling and ultimately pumped to an irrigation system to water the nearby corn fields. Additionally, manure produced is utilized as a natural fertilizer for crops.
“As we recognize June as Dairy Month, let’s pay tribute to the hardworking and dedicated dairy farmers as well as the dairy cows, remarkable animals that can consume feed items not edible by humans and convert them into milk, often considered nature’s mostly nearly perfect food,” said Kansas Dairy Association Executive Director Mike Bodenhausen.
]]>The Republican candidate for governor said that dairies and cheese production facilities were an agricultural business area of growth the state should pursue.
“A Brownback Administration will roll out the welcome mat for dairies to come or expand in Kansas,” he said. “Many of the advantages that have led feedlot operations to our state apply equally to dairy production.”
Brownback said he would review the state’s regulations to determine how the state could help attract and grow such businesses.
“We need a major cheese processing plant in Kansas to expand market opportunities for our milk,” Brownback said.
From Kansas.com
]]>Foster has been an active member and contributor to the Kansas dairy industry for over 30 years. Co-managing more than 1,000 acres of land with her husband, Foster and her family currently oversee 300 head of cattle and over 600 acres of crops. She has been involved in a variety of dairy organizations including Dairy Farmers of America, the Kansas Dairy Association and the National Dairy Board which she was an active member of for seven years. Foster graduated from Kansas State University with a bachelor’s in dairy production.
Harris works for Jackson Dairy in Hutchinson where, as the quality assurance manager, she is responsible for regulatory inspections along with assuring food safety and quality. In support of the Global Food Safety Initiative, Harris is certified by the Safe Quality Food Institute. Harris’ years of experience in both the quality assurance and research and development divisions of Jackson Dairy make her a valuable representative for Kansas dairy processors.
The Kansas Dairy Marketing Advisory Board consists of five appointed members who work closely with the Department of Agriculture to study and evaluate the need for establishing a statewide milk marketing order.
]]>Read complete story here
“Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe His commands, His laws and His decrees that I am giving you this day.” Deuteronomy 8: 11.
The plaque hanging in the office of Forget-Me-Not Farms, Cimarron, Kan., greets all visitors with this verse from the book of Deuteronomy. It’s more than a Bible verse, though. For the Boersma family of Forget-Me-Not Farms, it’s a company mission statement that reminds them to keep their priorities in place–faith, family and dairy farming.
“We’re a faith-based, family-oriented dairy,” said Ted Boersma. Boersma and his wife, Nancy, operate Forget-Me-Not Farms with their daughters and their husbands, Naci and Josh Littlejohn and Aundi and T.J. Curtis, as well as Ted’s parents, Andy and Grace Boersma.
The Boersmas have been dairying since 1984, when Boersma bought his first 140 head of dairy cows and transitioned from a family background in the floor covering business to dairy. “I looked around and there weren’t that many old men in floor covering,” Boersma said with a smile. Dairy, he said, offered his family an opportunity back then in Belen, N.M.
Building a family business
They slowly built the herd to a point where it would be beneficial to move to a larger facility near Clovis, N.M. In 1993, the Boersmas built a new dairy designed to hold 1,400 cows in the emerging dairy region of Clovis.
Eventually, though, the Clovis dairy market started to get crowded. If there was ever a time for expansion to accommodate a growing family and a growing dairy business, 2008 was it.
“Clovis and the west Texas area is a hotbed of dairies, and everyone wanted to expand,” Boersma said. “We just thought we’d start looking as far north and east as we could to build a bigger drylot dairy.” They wanted to move north for more available feed supplies, and east for closer milk processing facilities.
But, the Boersmas weren’t just looking to move across the state this time.
Turning an idea into reality
Boersma and a friend from Idaho decided to travel to Kansas to look at some land on a “lark.”
“There was a lot of wide open spaces and available feed,” Boersma said. Pretty soon, the lark turned into a full-blown business plan to move the family and the dairy to Kansas. Kansas offered land, water, feed, labor and milk processing facilities. More importantly, the state boasted ag-friendly communities and regulations.
So, Boersma came home and discussed his idea of relocating the dairy with his family and his spiritual and business advisors. Besides Naci and Aundi, the Boersmas have seven other children and many grandchildren spread from Clovis to Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan. With a couple of grown children and extended family ties in Clovis, it wasn’t a decision to be made on a whim. The family rallied around the idea, though, and plans were made for the big move.
“Ted’s always had a business vision of growth and opportunities for our family and all involved in the dairy,” said son-in-law Curtis. It was exciting to see this idea come to life, he added.
“When this whole thing started, I sought a lot of counsel,” Boersma said. “I talked to guys I trusted in the dairy business, and every one of them thought it was a good idea.” And so, in 2008, the Boersmas began building their new drylot dairy facility in Cimarron.
]]>Kansas is the land of wheat fields and cattle feedlots. It’s known for sunflowers, Dorothy Gale, and now–dairies.
The Kansas Department of Commerce is currently reaching out to large dairies looking to relocate into agriculture-friendly communities through its Kansas Dairy Initiative. As a part of that initiative, KDC and the western Kansas Rural Economic Development Alliance hosted the Southwest Kansas Dairy Tour. The day tour of large-scale dairies in the Garden City, Kan., area hosted dairy producers from Tennessee, Virginia, Kansas and Saudi Arabia. The tour showcased Royal Farms Dairy and Plymell Dairy in Garden City, and Forget-Me-Not Farms in Cimarron, as well as discussed the benefits of relocating to the area.
At Royal Farms Dairy, Steve Irsik spoke to the group about the benefits of locating the 6,000-head dry lot milking operation just east of Garden City. Irsik said dairies can not only count on the abundant feed supply from the area’s corn and forage growers, but also communities that understand the needs of agriculture production.
“We’re 15 miles from Garden City, five minutes from the regional airport there,” Irsik said. This area offers employees and their families good schools and almost all the amenities of other regions.
The quality of life factor was further discussed over lunch. A panel discussion covered schools, health care and other community benefits for employees in the region.
Jody Wacker, dairy coordinator for the Kansas Livestock Association, spoke about KLA’s assistance to relocating dairies. Dr. Bob Moser, Tribune, Kan., shared with the group his experience in expanding the health care available in his small western Kansas community. Dana Nanninga, Garden City, said she and her husband returned to their roots in Garden City to raise their family because of the opportunities in smaller towns. Carole Jordan, with KDC, said small communities welcome new businesses and the opportunity for growth they bring to the areas.
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