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Small farm gets big chance to host Walworth County Dairy Breakfast

LAFAYETTE TOWNSHIP — You're not going to see great expanses of rolling pasture at Kylecrest Holsteins.

You won't see great expanses of anything.

Just 5 acres of happy cows, owner Dave Kyle said.

Kyle and his family milk 100 Holstein cows on a former farmette on Loveland Road near Elkhorn in La Fayette Township. The family will host the 33rd annual Walworth County Dairy Breakfast on Saturday, June 20.

Breakfast will take place at the Walworth County Fairgrounds with regular tours of the farm.

Kyle followed a long, hard path to get to his little farm, he said.

He grew up farming with his family, but the family farm was sold when Kyle was still young.

Starting his own farm, rather than inheriting one, has been rewarding, Kyle said.

"Since I was a little kid, I wanted to farm," Kyle said. "I worked for other farmers growing up. Eventually, I jumped in. It's been a long road, but it's been a good thing. I think you appreciate it a lot more."

Starting in 1995, Kyle and his wife, Laurie, milked cows in a rented barn outside Elkhorn while they saved for their own farm.

When a nearby farmette came up for sale, it forced a tough choice and some sleepless nights, Kyle said.

"Is this the right thing to do to spend a lot of money to build a big barn on 5 acres?" Kyle and his wife wondered. "We could have gone to central Wisconsin and bought a couple hundred acres for the same price … We decided to take the plunge and build it here."

The family started milking at the current location in December 2007.

Looking back, they made the right choice, Kyle said.

He likes that he got to design a barn and milking parlor from scratch to suit his employees and cows.

"Cow comfort is unbelievable here," Kyle said. "Happy cows make life a lot better for us. And the help is happy because the parlor is new, big and airy. We built it the way we thought it should be."

Comfortable cows live longer, produce more milk and have healthier pregnancies, Kyle said.

Kyle plans to sell a second product from his barn: compost.

Kyle beds his cows with sawdust. He regularly uses a rototiller to mix the bedding with manure. Buried under the ground, the mixture heats up and "cooks" into compost.

The finished compost is removed and spread in windrows at Kyle's neighbor's landscaping business. In 14 months, the barn produced about 700 cubic feet of compost, Kyle said.

His neighbor will market the compost, Kyle said.

Meanwhile, Kyle's cows can stretch out and do their thing on a fresh layer of sawdust. They love it, Kyle said.

"If you would come to our barn, it's like walking across a huge mattress," Kyle said. "In a pasture, green grass is pretty, but they're still laying on the ground. In this barn they're laying on this soft stuff."

About Kylecrest Holsteins

The cows: The Kyle family milks about 100 Holsteins. They milk three times per day and raise their heifers off the farm with a group of farmers.

Who does the work: The farm is owned and operated by Dave and Laurie Kyle. Their kids are Joey, 24; Hayden, 15, and Mackenzie, 12. Cathy Jacques is the head herdsman.

Farm history: The Kyles built a barn and milking parlor on their five-acre farm in La Fayette Township in December 2007. Before that, they milked in a rented barn nearby.

Quotable: "Our goal was to produce high quality milk from healthy cows that are comfortable," Dave Kyle said. "We felt that was one way we were able to compete (on a five-acre farm.)"

Makin' milk: Last year, diners drank about 194 gallons of milk at the dairy breakfast in the form of half pints of white and chocolate milk.

Each cow on the Kyle farm makes about 85 pounds of milk, or just under 10 gallons, of milk every day.

So, it would take one of the Kylecrest Holsteins about 19 days to make enough milk for the Walworth County Dairy Breakfast.