Who: The Larson Family
What: Larson Acres
Where: Magnolia, WI
Six families on the farm: Larson Acres started out as one farming family and now has six families of Larsons working on the farm. The farm began with just 80 acres and six cows, and has grown to more than 5,000 acres of agricultural land and 2,900 cows.
Nearly 90 years after Ed and Johanna Larson began farming in Magnolia Township, Don and Virginia carried on the farming tradition in 1957 at the current Larson Acres site in the town of Magnolia, Wisconsin. Today, 4th generation Mike and Ed, and 5th generation Sandy and Jamie, manage the farm.
A recent expansion increased the size of the herd from 1,400 adult cows to 2,900. The heifer herd was also expanded from 1,250 to 2,375. With expanded facilities, Larson Acres now features:
- Cross ventilated and conventional free stall barns
- Double-20 and Double-22 BouMatic milking parlors
- Five nursery barns
- Calf barn for two- to five-month-old calves
- Special needs areas
- ISS wastewater management
- McLanahan sand separators
Investing in technology: New technologies and equipment, including an advanced wastewater treatment process and sand separator, allow the Larsons to accommodate more cows while ensuring there is no need for any new liquid manure storage. The technology developed by ISS makes sense for the dairy farm community. It eliminates the need for agitation which reduces the odors coming from the dairy. Partitioning manure into different products allows the right nutrients to be cost-effectively applied to fields that can use them, reducing the risk of runoff. And, with fewer trucks hauling manure to far-off fields, it means more peace of mind for dairy producers and the communities in which their businesses operate.
And more technology: The health of the herd is one of the most important things they focus on every day at Larson Acres. In addition to having expert herdsmen on staff, they have put systems in place that monitor the health of the herd and quickly address any issues. A computerized system was designed to carefully monitor and track the health of each animal in the herd. Each cow has its own identification number and an electronic ID. When a cow walks into the milking parlor, the staff knows who's there, which pen they are from, what time they were milked last and how much milk they produced.
Growth begets growth: Larson Acres currently employs 60 top-quality local residents, which includes 15 new positions resulting from expansion. Larson Acres currently spends more than $7 million in the local economy through local businesses and vendors each year, and when dairy farms spend money locally, it creates a multiplier effect of more than 2.5 times the original dollars spent.
Alongside the additional 15 jobs, the expansion also created more employment opportunities for local vendors. More than 70 local vendors will participate in, and directly benefit from the expanded operations.
Many things have changed since the Larsons first began farming, but the principles by which they operate haven't. At Larson Acres, dairy farming is about producing high-quality milk. But it's also much more than that. It is about doing what's right for the families in their community, their animals and the environment.
