Small dairy boasts 13 Excellent cows

By

Fran Alt

"I was wondering if there's a dairy nearby that I could visit?"

The fellow at the university nods and tells me the nearest one is about 18 miles away. "It's kind of small," he says.

"That's okay. I like small dairies."

He starts to give me the name and phone number. "Wait a second," he says, "if you don't mind a small dairy, there's a really good one - Dan Schweigert's. He milks about 25 cows over near Peoria."

Now, you need to know this before I continue. I am visiting Urbana, Illinois (baby-sitting my grandkids), and I don't know Peoria from Timbuktu, so I tell the university guy that it sounds great. He gives me the phone number and I notice the area code is different from the one in Urbana. I shrug as the thought runs through my mind that area codes can differ from one block to the next. So I don't question whether this farm is "nearby".

A few days later, I call Dan Schweigert. He's really nice and agrees to the interview. We set the day for Monday - Memorial Day.

"So Dan, " I say, "if you'll just give me directions, we'll be there on Monday." I don't want to scare the guy off by telling him 'we' includes my husband and three grandchildren.

He asks where I am and I tell him Urbana.

"Take 74 West towards Peoria," he says, "It's less than two hours."

Whew! I'm in shock; I wanted something closer. But what the heck, I 'm glad to have the interview and the kids should enjoy the trip.

The directions are great and as we round the curve that marks the end of town, we can see Dan and Connie Schweigert's 'Maple Lawn Jersey Farm'. The kids are counting the cows in the field and I am looking at the sheer beauty of the animals. It's like being at an extraordinary Jersey show. I can't wait to find out why there are such great looking cows on this small Illinois farm.

Living the dream

When he was a kid in high school Dan Schweigert would study the cows on the cover of Hoard's Dairyman. In his daydreams he toyed with the idea that one day he would have cows of his own on the cover of Hoards. Well, Dan is living proof that dreams can come true, because on the March 1989 issue of Hoard's, you'll see four of Dan's cows on the cover! When you consider the size of Dan's herd, about 25 milkers, having four cows on the cover of Hoard's is quite an accomplishment.

Dan started his dairy career earlier than expected. His grandfather died the year he graduated from high school and since dairy farming was always in Dan's plans, he 'stepped right in' and began working with his dad, Chris.

Later when Dan married he chose a girl from a dairy with a larger herd than his. Connie Schweigert laughs about this and says because of her dairy farm background she knew what she was getting into when she married Dan.

The couple raised their three sons, Jim, John and Jeff on the same farm where both Dan and his dad Chris, grew up. (In fact, Chris was born on that farm some 88 years ago!)

Today Chris has long retired and dairy belongs to Connie and Dan. They work side-by-side and usually have between 20 and 25 milkers. Dan says they used to milk fifty cows but opted for quality over quantity. "Bigger dairies are not as interested in a 'typy' cow," Dan says. "We like to have it all in one package."

Dan and Connie both take pride in the fact their cows are almost always show-ready. The Schweigert's Jerseys average 60 pounds per cow, with a herd average of 18,000 pounds. At 89.8, this is one of the highest classified herds in the country and includes 13 Excellent cows out of 20!

"I know what a good cow looks like cause I've been doing it for almost fifty years. Today, in my opinion, we have too many cow-milkers instead of cowmen. It's just a lot of people milking cows; not like it used to be when you had people out there who really knew cows. The good cowmen aren't out there any more. I can tell by looking at a cow if she's going to milk or not. I want a cow that really milks; I want the top. We breed for type and production, that' s why I am not very big. I demand a pretty darn good cow to be walking around here. She's got to be above the breed average for me to look at her."

When I asked about showing cows Connie said, "We showed cows more in the 80s, when they kids were little." And Dan decided to tell me about Madge.

They went. to World Dairy Expo only once, and that year showed the reserve champion - Madge. Madge was Dan's pride and joy; she was champion cow at the Illinois State Fair five years in a row. After a while, some dairy farmers would jokingly say they were not going show an aged cow until Madge was out of the picture.

I asked Dan about all the great looking cows I'd seen when we drove up.

"I used to be a milk tester thirty years ago," he began, "and a milk tester sees it all. I've seen places I wouldn't milk a cow and places that I couldn't wait to get back to. There was one old fellow who milked Guernseys. I always dreamed of doing it the way he did. Not only did he have really good cows, but his cows were always clean. This guy really knew cows and I always thought someday I'm going to do what he does.

"I enjoy having clean cows. In the wintertime my cows are spotless. I have to have something good to look at because I'm not going to get up at five o'clock in the morning and look at some swing-bag. I want to see a nice looking udder out there. And I guess I kind of learned this from going to all those different dairies. I'd put them all in perspective and I'd ask myself if I were running this place, how would I change it? What would I do different? It was the best thing I could have ever done as far as my being in the dairy business.... to see how everyone else did it. Some of those herds are still going today. And even back then, I knew which ones were going to last."

When it comes to the dairy Dan says, "Connie feeds the calves; other than that we work together." They use automatic milkers and then both Dan and Connie hand carry the milk in 40 to 50-pound buckets to the milk room and pour it in a strainer.

Connie is trying to explain their milking system to me and she laughs and decides to make the concept easy, "One of our neighbors says we're one step up from milking by hand."

Both Connie and Dan feel their milking system is the best way in the world to take care of a cow. "But," Dan adds, "you couldn't do it if you had 1000.'

It takes Dan and Connie about an hour to milk 20 to 25 cows. Their co-op, Prairie Farms, pays a premium for their milk because of the low SCC count, which averages around 100.

Winter is hardest for the couple because they have to spend a lot more time with the cows. Keeping the cows in the barn all winter requires more work - like cleaning the gutters twice a day and feeding hay once every hour. And, because they insist on clean cows there is lots of extra work when the cows are in the barn.

The cows spend about six months a year outside. But Dan and Connie feel they do much better in the barn. In summer there are shade trees and freestalls for keeping cool and Dan says, "There are days I go out and spray them off -- another thing you couldn't do if you have a lot of cows."

They supplement their income by flushing cows and selling breeding stock and semen. They also provide cows to the University of Illinois for embryo transfers and Connie says they get to keep every other calf. Dan also farms some 240 acres of corn, beans and hay. Since their herd is small they can sell much of what they grow. Connie also keeps a good sized garden for home needs.

Family ties

All the boys help out with the farming when they can. Jim works for Prairie Farms, John's in the insurance the business and Jeff is an electrician. John and Jeff are married -- John and Barb / Jeff and Jenny. Although Jeff and Jenny have an apartment setup at home, all the boys have lives away from the farm and Dan says he would rather see it that way. He loves farming but thinks it may be a more difficult life than the nine-to-five, five-day grind of a normal job.

Dan's retired parents, Ida and Chris have their own home next door to Dan and Connie. Chris helps some with the farming but not the cows...

Fishing

I ask Dan if he has a hobby. He says not really but he enjoys going bank fishing about twice a year. His voice sounds dreamy and his eyes momentarily have a sort of glaze about them. You know his mind is wandering.

"Ahh," he sighs. "I can tell you some stories about that."

He and the boys go down to the Mackinaw River and put out 'bank poles.

"We use blue gills as big as your hand for bait and our poles are made of PVC pipe. "He shows me what appears more like a metal pipe about 3/4 of an inch wide. The pipe has a string and a huge hook similar to a huge U nail bent like a fishhook. My guess is it's a commercial fishhook but everything is so Tom Sawyerish, I not sure.

They fish for flatheads and last year caught a 33-pounder, not to mention several more in the 30 pound range. This year, the biggest so far was 20-pounds. Dan says they only fish about twice a year and get about five to ten fish, but they are so big that's all you need. They put the bank poles out early evening and go back the next morning and "pull 'em and run 'em."

Dan laughs, explaining that's the way you fish when you don't have time. He says he loves it and, "It helps a lot when you can make hay and then head for the river. That makes life more fun. You can't work all the time you got to have fun sometime."

In my mind I think, but only "twice-a-year?!" Then I realize with so many excellent Jersey cows, Dan must love what he does. And my guess is that Dan is really having fun most of the time.

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