The other day I was talking to my brother about things happening around the farm and in the industry, and I said, “Well, 10 years ago, when we only had 600 cows…” and then I stopped myself. A sudden realization made me recognize that it was closer to 15 years ago when we had 600 cows. So much has changed over the last 20 years at Majestic Crossing – every once in a while it’s good to think about how much we’ve grown and progressed.
I thought it would be fun to share the timeline of Majestic Crossing Dairy, and how we came to the 1,950 cows we have today.
Mid-90’s: We had around 120 cows or so. My dad was the only owner of the farm.
1998: I came back to farm with my dad, and we increased the herd size to 450 cows to be able to support both of our families.
2001: We added a small piece to the freestall barn and added cows to bring the herd-size up to 600.
2002: Darin came back to the farm.
2006: We put another addition onto the barn and increased the herd to 720 cows.
2009: This was a big year. We added on to our big milk barn and grew the herd to 900 cows. Even though the milk price was way down, the cattle were cheap. We were really proactive and able to milk more cows, which helped alleviate some of the costs.
Early 2011: Came together with two other families to form Majestic Crossing Dairy. The total herd size grew to 1,620 cows.
Mid-2011: Built another addition onto one of the barns, adding more cows for a total of about 1,850.
2012: Added on to a barn and grew the herd to the size we are today – 1,950.
For us, whenever we grew, we did it because it made sense. We had the financial stability and also the human resources to make it happen. The employees were always on-board with our additions, and we had enough land to support the growing number of cows.
Our farm history is something that we’re very proud of. Looking back, it’s amazing how much the farm and industry have evolved over the last 20 years. It’s exciting to think of where we will be in the next 20 years.
