"Presently we are using four of our own bulls and two more will be coming out shortly. We have sold 12 bulls to AI - both domestic and foreign. The first bull Paul sold to AI has recently made the line up at Sire Power. His name is Kaczmarek Como Driver (9H2164)."
Kaczmarek Genetics
By
Paul and Vicky Kaczmarek
We farm 450 acres and made the change to custom harvesting two years ago when we purchased the farm from Paul's mom and dad. We made the change to custom harvesting because neither, Paul or Vicky likes fieldwork and both wanted to work with the cows. Given the choice, we would rather buy a good cow over a tractor any day. We have 200 acres of corn, 150 acres of alfalfa, 70 acres of soybeans, and 30 acres of oats. We feed a one group TMR and which consists of about 50 percent corn silage and 50 percent haylage for the forage. For grain we use HMSC, cottonseed, roasted soybeans, raw soybeans, soybean meal, and various other ingredients.
We both grew up on dairy farms. Paul was raised on the farm we bought from his parents and Vicky on a dairy farm about an hour south of Green Bay.
Paul went to UW-Madison Dairy short course, then returned to farm in a partnership with his father and brother. After farming with her Mom and Dad for eight years Vicky went to college for accounting and then worked off the farm for two years as an Agriculture Credit analyst for Firstar Banks. When we were married I came home to the farm to help Paul with the dairy herd.
Two years later we purchased the farm from Paul's Dad and Mom and bought out the partnership and are now sole owners. We decided to take over the farm alone so we could make our own decisions. Since purchasing the farm we've added two freestall barns and we remodeled the cow barn and the heifer/dry cow barns.
We have started to really stress cow comfort. Our heifers are reaching breeding weight three months sooner now with the better housing. The herd average increased due to better herd health attributed to the dry cow barn, prefresh barn and the comfort of the stalls and mattresses we put in the cow barn.
Presently we milk 140 Holsteins, but will have 175 milking by the first of the year. We expanded from 100 cows to 175 this summer by adding a three-row freestall barn with a covered feed alley. We milk in a 90-tiestall barn and use Universal automatic takeoffs. We went to the auto takeoffs because of the different people milking and they have worked well for us, keeps everything consistent.
Labor
Besides the two of us, we have one full-time and four part-time employees. We work as a team and usually make decisions together. Paul does most of the day to day managing of the cattle because lately Vicky is busy with the children. Vicky takes care of the crop end of the farm, accounting, and helps with the morning milking. She does the planning and ordering of seed. As for the actual fieldwork, we tell them how and where we want it done and it gets done. Paul talks with visitors who come to the farm to buy embryos, while Vicky handles the brochures. We are building an office/bathroom/playroom on the barn, so the children will have a place to play when Vicky needs to be in the barn.
Our breeding program includes flushing the best 10% of the herd for embryos, breeding the middle 40% and using the bottom 50% for recipients for the calves from the top 10%. In the past four years we have improved the herd from a 102 BAA to a 107 BAA. The herd average has also increased from 19,000 to 28,000 in that same time frame. We stress bulls with good type and high index not giving up one for the other. We always try to pick out a few good young sire we think may make it and recently Vicky picked out Dixie-Lee Aaron as a young sire he is now 4th on the TPI list and we have the highest indexing Aaron.
Presently we are using four of our own bulls and two more will be coming out shortly. We have sold 12 bulls to AI - both domestic and foreign. The first bull Paul sold to AI has recently made the line up at Sire Power. His name is Kaczmarek Como Driver (9H2164). We also sell about 30-35 breeding bulls a year, with loads going to Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Texas this last year.
We stress Genetics and look to pick the particular genetics that will be in demand in the future. It does not always work but it sure is fun trying - kind of like gambling. Our business is Genetics and milk marketing. About 1/4 of our income comes from the genetics part now, and we hope to hold that as we increase cow numbers.
We both enjoy farming. We love working with the animals and enjoy the people in the Registered Holstein business. And we think a farm is the perfect place to raise a family. It gives us the freedom to do what we want even though it can be very demanding. We have structured our farm and our hired help to give us the time away we both want.
When we have spare time, Paul enjoys playing cards, hunting and fishing, while Vicky likes gardening, interior decorating, and of course - the computer.
When ADF asked what the best farming advice he had ever heard, Paul replied, "It was going to the custom field work and that advice came from my wife."
And as to the advice he would you give to another farmer: Don't be afraid to spend $1 if you think it will give you a return of $2.