<< Lyle Wood and Scott Bourcy
WHO: Lyle Wood and Scott Bourcy
WHAT: Wood Farms
WHERE: In the heart of the "Golden Crescent" area of upstate New York between Lake Ontario and the 1000 Islands.
Lyle and Scott are managing partners continuing the tradition of the farm, a progressive 700-cow dairy focused on detail and "controlling the controllable" on their farm. This philosophy has been the building block of their well-planned expansions and strong equity position, allowing them to sustain a profitable dairy over the years with the many milk price fluctuations since the creation of the dairy in 1945.
Seven decades of achievement: In 1945 Henry Wood started the dairy milking 30 cows. Their first expansion came in 1978, expanding the facilities and dairy to 100 milking cows. Second-generation family member Gary Wood was instrumental with his insight that moved the dairy from its early stages to the expansion process and beyond. Gary is still active and gives important input today. A second expansion in 1984 brought the herd to 175 milking cows. Along with this expansion the herd was one of the first ten to earn the "Dairy of Distinction" award. This affirmation of quality raised the bar for future success. In 1993 family members Lyle Wood and Scott Bourcy bought a larger share of the dairy and became managing partners. Further expansions in 1999 and 2001 brought the herd to 400 cows.
A number of key land acquisitions, good financial planning and well planned facilities expansion allowed for this period of growth, and helped to pave the way for more expansion. This was capped off with a new barn finished this past summer, putting the dairy at 700 milking cows. The dairy will also install a new milking parlor this winter moving from the current double 9 to a double 24, which will improve cow flow with less time on the cows' feet, more efficient feeding and improved health and milk production.
"CONTROLLING THE CONTROLLABLE": With the many challenges of running a dairy farm today, Lyle and Scott concentrate on areas they can control, which has has paid off over the long term.
The dairy independently markets their milk with Crowley Foods, a local plant manufacturing yogurt and sour cream. They are the #2 producer for Crowley and receive the top pay price per 100# in their benchmarking group. With milk production averaging between 80 and 85 per 100 wt., and high components, it has worked out very well for the dairy.
Labor management is an area that the dairy also excels in. They are very focused in hiring employees that can handle their responsibilities on farm well. Lyle Wood's philosophy is "to hire quality people, pay them well and delegate responsibilities to them". This has been a key reason for the dairy's success.
Calf management is an area in which they have made some recent improvements. With the recent building of a new calf and heifer facility and close attention to management details, they are able to wean calves at 5 weeks, freshen at 23 months and achieve a calf mortality rate of .05 %.
NUTRITION PROGRAM: Wood Farms works closely with their nutritionist, Adam Miner. Adam is closely in tune with many facets of the dairy and works with them on management and nutrition areas. On the nutrition end, he strives for a ration that is cost effective while giving the dairy the production and health goals they are looking for. Diamune Se (Diamond V Mills) is a key part of the ration, combining a highly available form of organic selenium to maintain selenium status of the herd, coupled with a full feeding rate of yeast culture for increased DMI and milk production in early lactation and improved feed efficiency in mid/late lactation.
Wood Farms has worked hard to survive in today's challenging dairy environment while setting the stage for continued growth. They have diversified into areas like cash cropping, where they are currently farming 450 acres and exploring additional cropland.
The dairy is truly a "Dairy of Distinction" in the northeast.
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