Producer Spotlight 
The Weis Way: It's all about the cows 
Brett, Barney and Dan Weis By Mitch Deimund Dairy Team Leader - East/Regional Sales Manager Diamond V  Relentless attention to cow comfort and nutrition quality. That is the Weis way at Weis-Way Dairy, which is now operating in a wonderful new facility in Union Grove, WI. Weis-Way Dairy is a 4th generation Wisconsin dairy farm. Barney Weis, now 92 years old, was the 2nd generation. Dan (3rd generation) worked for Barney until other business interests led him off the farm. Barney ended up selling the cows some years back. In 2008, Dan decided to enter the dairy business again, this time with wife Marie, son Brett and daughter Greta, the 4th generation. Their business plan wasn't about cow numbers, but rather milk quality, cow comfort and longevity. Their April test had the cows at a 77-lb. tank average; management level milk was 90 lbs., butterfat of 4.2% and protein at 3.15% on all registered Holsteins. SCC was 92,000. The cows are milked twice daily and no BST is used. Since the plan was about cow comfort, a new compost bed pack barn was built. The parlor is a double 6 parabone. The cows have access to pasture and spend AM hours on the pasture after the morning milking. They are back on the pack by 1 PM to avoid the heat of the day during the summer. The barn uses curtains and fans to keep cows cool. The fans are over the bed pack and feed bunk. The ceiling of the barn is insulated. Components are very important to the Weis family and this operation. There is a great deal of focus put on maintaining high levels of butterfat and protein. This wasn't always the case. They had struggled to get to 3.5% butterfat in the past. The improvement came from forage quality and attention to detail on the feeding program. They feed a TMR containing a complete grain mix, baleage, corn silage, liquid whey and dry grass hay. The baleage is a mix of alfalfa and orchard grass. RFQ runs in the 175 to 200 range on this forage. They bale and wrap the forage to maintain feed quality. Dan said, "we make sure we cut when the forage is ready". The corn silage is chopped at 24 inches to increase starch and grain levels in the over all feed. The baleage and grass hay is 50% of the forage and the corn silage is the other 50%. Forage to grain ratio is 60% forage - 40% grain. The liquid whey sticks it all together. There is very little sorting going on with the TMR. The grass from the baleage and hay seems to tie this TMR all together and also helps reduce any sorting. Feed additives used include bicarb, Rumensin and Diamond V Original XP. The bicarb is in the complete grain mix, but they do offer it free choice as well. Diamond V Original XP is in the grain mix too. During forage changes or heat stress times they feed a second dose of Original XP to help the cows through the stress. Dan and family are focused on the cows and the details, which shows in their production and components. The new facility is a beautiful show place. I'm sure this was the motivating factor in Kenosha County choosing Weis-Way as the location for this year's June Dairy Breakfast. Back to main page | 
