Great Little Dairy Farm By Me | General Homesteading Discussion | Forums

One of the local news channels did a story on a dairy farm by me and I'd thought I would share it. Now I am a proponent of anything that is natural with in reason. I fully understand we need to do some things to make it safe for people to eat and for a good yield. I live in the middle of farm country. I can step out of my backyard and walk for miles through open corn, soybean and wheat fields. My Father, Grandfather and and so one were all farmers so I know the hard work and dedication these people have to supply food for the world. The issue I have with farming is all the gene manipulation and chemicals put on or used on the crops so when a story like this one comes along I like to share it.

This is the Kilgus Farm in Illinois. It is the only dairy farm in the state of Illinois that packages the milk right on the farm. Not only that but the cattle are grazing cattle not feed a bunch of feed that has all the bad stuff, or what I consider bad for you, in it. I wasn't aware of this place until a couple yrs ago which is sad because I should have checked asked around. Something we all should do more ofter but it is what it is as we get complacent at times. I guess my point is there are places out there that you can get a safer product for our families. We just need to take the time to find them often they are right under our noses.

Story

Kilgus Farmstead made revolutionary changes in June of 2009, becoming the first single-source farmstead bottling operation in the state of Illinois.

Co-owned by Matt Kilgus and his uncle, Paul Kilgus, the farm in Fairbury first began back in the 1950's with Matt's grandparents. Over the years, the family made changes, switching for the more popular Holstein herds to Jersey cows in the mid-90's. Jersey cows are known for a richer, creamier milk which is also higher in calcium and protein. Kilgus also strives to keep their cows grass fed for the majority of the year.

Once the family made the decision to begin bottling their own product on-site, business began to grow. They now provide products for more than 120 coffee shops, grocery stores and restaurants across the state. The family also sells meat products from the cows and goats meat and milk.

Here is a link to the farm

http://www.kilgusfar.....stead.com/

Kilgus Dairy has been in operation since 1950?s, when Duane and Arlene Kilgus bought their first holstein cow. After growing the holstein herd for many years, the Kilgus family decided to do a gradual switch over of the herd to Jersey cows in the mid 90?s. Since then we haven’t looked back enjoying the scenes of the small, docile, brown cows grazing the lush grasses of central Illinois.

The other big management switch on our dairy farm we made was made over seven years ago when we took over 50 acres of good black soil for growing corn and soybeans and turned it into a field of seventeen, two and a half acre paddocks of lush rye grass, orchard grass, and clover for our cows to graze on. This was one or the biggest changes we had ever made on the farm, but it has been one that has benefited our cows as well as ourselves in many different ways. From April until late November, our cows are out grazing in the pastures. Our cows are rotated to a fresh paddock of grass every 24 hours. This allows them to eat a paddock down and then it allows that paddock to grow back for two weeks until they graze it again. We will mow the paddocks a few times every year to help keep the grass fresh and to keep weeds from growing in the paddocks. No chemicals are ever sprayed on our grasses, all weed control is done by mowing the paddocks down.

What are the benefits we’ve seen from the pasture system? We’ve seen numerous improvements in our herd since we started pasturing seven years ago.

We have healthier cows, with a life expectancy of over 8 years. This is because the cows are off of concrete lots and its easier on their feet and legs. They also stay much healthier when out in the fresh air.

We spend less on traditional feed, and have calculated that our costs per hundred weight of milk are around $11 (where confinement operations may be $14-15 cwt).

The cows do all their own harvesting of the pasture and we aren’t out burning fuel to harvest the feed for them to eat in the barn. At the same time they are eating they are spreading their waste back on the land to supply fertilizer back to the pastures.

With cows living longer we’ve been able to increase our herd numbers from within our herd.