More than 100 participants attended the 2012 Kentucky Indiana – also known as "Kentuckiana" – Dairy Exchange Program, hosted this year in Kentucky. The Kentucky farms toured included Kalmey Dairy Farm and Eddie Klingenfus farm, both in Shelbyville; Harvest Home Dairy in Crestwood; Davis Dairy in Brownsville; and LongView Dairy in Leitchfield.
The Kalmeyâs herd has been continually on DHI since 1924. Their rolling herd average on 268 cows is 21,270 pounds of milk, 3.7 percent fat and 3.06 percent protein.
The next stop was Harvest Home Dairy owned by Bob and Angie Klingenfus. They are currently milking 115 cows.
A compost barn for housing the milking herd allows them to manage the waste more efficiently and minimize the amount of liquid manure. They are also looking into an agri-tourism venture for their farm because they are located so close to the Louisville metro area.
The final stop on the first day was the Eddie Klingenfus farm, which has 112 cows and 114 replacement heifers. Eddie has been successfully feeding high moisture earlage to his herd for several years.
During the evening, a meal was prepared by the Shelby County Cattlemenâs Association at the Shelby County Extension Office.
Kelly Heckaman from Purdue University led a discussion on the importance of farm succession plans. She shared some horror stories as well as facilitated discussion of some successful farm successions.
The second day started at Long View Dairy, owned by Larry and Doyle Embry, who bred the high net merit Holstein sire E-Longview CM. The current rolling herd average is 21,000 pounds of milk for this purebred, 200-cow Holstein herd.
The final stop on the tour was Davis Dairy, owned by Dick and Susan Davis. This farm recently received honors for their milk quality. They are currently milking 70 Holsteins and have a somatic cell count of approximately 100,000. PD
PHOTOS
TOP RIGHT: This is one of the barns located on the Kalmey Dairy Farm in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
MIDDLE RIGHT: Eddie Klingenfus talks to the group.
BOTTOM RIGHT: The group takes a look at the cows at Long View Dairy in Leitchfield, Kentucky. Photos courtesy of Kentuckiana Dairy Exchange.
