By Chris Aldridge
Kentucky Ag News
JUNE 12, 2024

Milking between 40-50 cows, Fairdale Dairy Farm just outside Owenton, Ky., is definitely not the biggest dairy farm in the nation, but Kentucky Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Warren Beeler says it’s one of America’s best.

Beeler boasted that Richard Sparrow and his three sons have assembled “the best Brown Swiss herd in the country … not just Kentucky.” And the Sparrows have the hardware to back it up.

“I don't like to do any bragging,” Richard said. “But the Brown Swiss Association gives awards for production, and we have won in our size group, between 40-50 cows, over the whole country five of the last six years.”

The Sparrows have the highest producing dairy herd in Kentucky, regardless of breed, for five consecutive years. Beeler said each cow contributes 12.2 gallons per day, which is processed by a Kroger plant in Winchester, Ky.

“That’s a lot of bovine brew, bud!” Beeler quipped.

Richard attributed the high production to three factors: genetics, nutrition, and environment.

“Cow comfort is one of the most important things,” he said, noting that’s why he chose to house the herd in an open-sided, compost-bedded pack barn with large fans spinning overhead. “There are no restraints.

“All they've got to do is eat and lay down, and when they're laying down that's when they're really making milk. That's when they're ruminating.”

Richard said the cows are also comfortable being handled all their lives by only four familiar faces – himself and his sons Joe, Ben, and Kirby.

“We don't have any farm labor whatsoever,” Richard said. “We're the only ones that take care of these animals from the time they're born all the way through milking, and I think that's a factor.

“You know, it's only natural that I would take care of my own cows better than somebody that's hired to do it, somebody that quits at 5 (p.m.) and goes home and doesn't think about it. If I've got a sick cow, I think about it at 3 in the morning.”

In addition to milking, to provide an additional source of revenue for the farm, Richard and his sons are actively involved in genetics and selective breeding of Brown Swiss cows.

“We really need to do that because as a small farm milking 48 cows right now, we cannot compete with a 2,000-cow dairy in cost of production or per hundredweight of milk,” Richard said. “So, we have to make up some of that ground in order to be an economically viable facility.”

Eggs from the best of their cows are harvested and fertilized by their most outstanding bulls. These embryos can be sold, frozen, or placed into another cow who will carry the calf to birth.

The Sparrows’ newest barn was built especially for calves, complete with a robot feeder that mixes powdered milk on demand and distributes it through artificial udders, the same as feeding human babies a bottle of formula. A computer tracks how much each calf eats, alerting Richard if a calf is not eating, a sign that it is probably sick.

“We have some really good cows for two reasons: one's milk production and the other is my son (Joe) shows the cows all over the country, everywhere from Oklahoma to Wisconsin,” Richard said. “We exhibit those cows, and that adds value to a cow and her pedigree, just like a person with their work experience. Part of that pedigree is milk production and part of that pedigree is showing and winning and getting honors.”

Brown Swiss, or Braunvieh cattle, is the oldest dairy breed. Developed in Switzerland, they were known for their abundant and rich milk. Bones from these cows have been discovered and dated back to around 4000 B.C. Monks in one Swiss monastery were breeding Brown Swiss 1,000 years ago.

Richard began showing Brown Swiss cows when he was 10 years old after he mowed yards in Owenton during the entire summer of 1962. By October, he had saved enough money to buy his first calf for $75, which would be nearly $780 today. Richard, 72, still remembers her name, Evergreen Lane Marietta, which he nicknamed “Sandy” because of her light brown color.

When Richard became a teenager, he assembled a small herd of Brown Swiss, milking them individually and selling about 20 gallons of milk per day to the Kraft Foods plant in Owenton, which used it to make its best-selling Velveeta cheese. Richard was forced to sell his small herd when he went to college at the University of Kentucky (UK).

After graduating with a degree in animal science, Richard accepted a job as a field representative for a milk marketing cooperative, visiting dairies in northern Kentucky to help improve their milk quality. More than 40 years later, in 2010, he retired from the management of Dairy Farmers of America.

Two years later, Richard and his sons realized a dream of owning their own dairy, one of only three today in Owen County. In 1978, the county had 68 dairy farms.

“What they (sons) really wanted to do is to operate their own dairy,” said Richard, whose sons had grown up showing Brown Swiss cattle kept on other farms. “There's not enough income … for them to make a living off the dairy, so they've all three got full-time jobs. But when they're not working, they're here on the farm helping.”

The Sparrows are competing with mega-dairies like one 80 miles northwest of Owenton in Greensburg, Ind. Its 5,000 cows produce a truckload of milk every two hours.

“The world has changed, and these small farms that milk 20 cows on grass and get 30 pounds per cow cannot compete with those large farms,” Richard lamented. “The fact that we're able to market a lot of genetics through calf embryos, and show calves, plus the milk – that's our equalizer.”

Richard said they have signed the paperwork to have a robotic milker installed. It will allow the cows to milk when they please, eliminating the two scheduled milkings per day. It takes Richard six hours to milk each day, half the time if one of his sons helps.

“I'm in relatively good health for an old man, but I ain't gonna last forever!” Richard said. “We’ve come to a crossroads. Either we'd have to hire help, and that's not viable with the small number of cows, or one of them would have to quit their job, and that's not viable because they have no way of replacing that income … and they've all got families to support.

“A robot will allow us to keep milking cows, keep doing what we love, but not be necessarily tied to … a daily routine.”