Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Scott Williams Located on Old Dump Road in the town of Hartland, Schmidt’s Ponderosa LLC is among the biggest dairy farms in Shawano County.
Leader Photo by Scott Williams Cows take their turns eating inside a barn at Schmidt’s Ponderosa LLC, which has received county approval for a barn expansion and bigger herd.
Two of the largest dairy farms in Shawano County are about to get ever bigger, growing their herds by a combined estimated 1,000 cows.
Schmidt’s Ponderosa LLC in the town of Hartland and Krueger Dairy LLC in the town of Richmond plan to build additional barns and other facilities to accommodate expanded business operations.
Both already rank among the county’s largest dairy farms, and their newest expansions are drawing cheers as signs of healthy growth in the agricultural industry.
The two projects follow similar expansions undertaken in the past couple of years by other large Shawano County operations, including Matsche Farms Inc. and Green Valley Dairy LLC.
“It’s a positive,” said Scott Frank, conservation director for Shawano County, which reviews and authorizes each such farm endeavor.
Schmidt’s Ponderosa won county approval last month to build a new 200-foot barn and add nearly 400 cows, while Krueger Dairy stepped forward this month with a proposal to build new facilities and boost its herd by an estimated 600 cows.
The county land conservation committee is scheduled Oct. 13 to consider Krueger Dairy’s plan for building two new barns — one about 400 feet long and the other 500 feet long — as well as a new milking parlor and new facilities for feed storage and waste storage.
Brad Krueger, owner of the farm, said the expansion has been under consideration for about two years as a way to modernize and grow the operation at W8371 Oak Ave. in Richmond.
“It’s a real big deal,” he said.
A fifth-generation dairy farmer in Shawano County, Krueger said that although dairy prices are in a slump at the moment, he is expanding Krueger Dairy based on the belief that the industry will regain momentum and that his investment will pay off in the long run.
“The future of dairy, I believe, is bright,” he said. “Over the long term, we’re optimistic about dairy.”
Krueger Dairy currently has about 1,000 cows at the Oak Avenue farm and another 1,000 cows elsewhere.
Shawano County officials scrutinize farm expansion proposals to determine how they affect surrounding areas in terms of air quality, water quality, floodplain protection and other standards under the law.
Although some neighbors raised concerns about odor problems associated with Schmidt’s Ponderosa, county officials determined that the growing farm met the conditions for expansion. If farmers comply with standards set by state law, Frank said, the county must permit expansion.
The same appears to hold true for the Krueger Dairy project, Frank said.
“They’re covering all their bases,” he said.
Paul Schmidt, owner of Schmidt’s Ponderosa, said he hopes to have the newly expanded barn completed later this year and to begin adding new dairy cows, as well as heifers and some beef cows.
Schmidt said he considered selling calves, but prospective buyers were not offering good prices. So he decided instead to hold onto the calves and invest in expanding the dairy operation at W3773 Old Dump Road in Hartland.
The farm currently has about 1,300 cows.
Schmidt joined Krueger in voicing confidence that dairy prices will rebound and that expansion is a positive step forward for agriculture. Noting also that he is looking ahead to when his children take over Schmidt’s Ponderosa, Schmidt said he wants to leave them a promising future.
“It’s more work for us, but it’s something we’ve got to do,” he said. “Farming and the agriculture industry is a good way of life. If you love what you do, you’re going to do what you can.”